The Israeli military said Wednesday that Hamas has handed over remains believed to be of a deceased hostage to the Red Cross in Gaza, the latest step forward under the US-brokered ceasefire.
The military said in a statement that the remains were being brought back into Israel. Ahead of the announcement, Hamas had returned the remains of 21 hostages to Israel under the terms of the ceasefire that began Oct. 10. If the latest remains are confirmed during forensic testing, that would leave the remains of six others in Gaza.
The announcement came after search operations in Gaza City’s Shijaiya neighborhood uncovered the remains. A bulldozer with an Egyptian flag flying on it was seen digging in a heavily destroyed area in Shijaiyah as masked members of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, guarded the area. ICRC vehicles were also present.
Hamas militants were seen later leaving the area with several bags seen in the back of a pickup truck. In late October, Egypt deployed a team of experts and heavy equipment to help search for hostages’ bodies.
Hamas has said recovering bodies is complicated by the widespread devastation in the coastal enclave and has returned one to three bodies every few days. Israel has pushed to speed up the returns and in certain cases has said the remains were not those of hostages.
Earlier in the day, Israel handed over the bodies of 15 more Palestinians, a day after militants in Gaza returned the body of Itay Chen, an Israeli soldier killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered Israel's 2-year-old campaign in Gaza. So far, Israel has handed over 285 bodies, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which handles the exchanges.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hamas returned 20 living hostages to Israel on Oct. 13. The further exchanges of the dead are the central component of the initial phase of the US-brokered agreement which requires Hamas return all hostage remains as quickly as possible. The exchanges have gone ahead even as Israel and Hamas have accused each other of breaching other terms of the deal.
Israeli officials have decried parts of the process as a violation of the agreement, accusing Hamas of handing over partial remains in some instances and staging the discovery of bodies in others. (AP)
