Israel announced that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) returned the body of Israeli hostage Dror Or on Tuesday. Following forensic testing, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office expressed condolences to the Or family. The government is reportedly making efforts to recover the bodies of the last two deceased hostages remaining in Gaza and is urging Hamas to fulfill its obligations under the six-week-old ceasefire agreement.
Dror Or’s body was handed over via the Red Cross after it was confirmed that the body was recovered in central Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) informed Or’s family on Wednesday that experts had verified the identity of the remains. Dror Or, a 48-year-old father of three, was allegedly killed by PIJ on October 7, 2023, during a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. His body was subsequently taken to Gaza as a hostage. During the same attack, his wife, Yonat, was also killed, and two of their children were kidnapped but released in November 2023 as part of a ceasefire agreement.
The IDF has expressed its condolences and reiterated its commitment to returning all deceased hostages. It emphasized that Hamas must comply with the agreement to ensure all hostages can be returned to their families and have a proper burial.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire, which began on October 10, Hamas was required to return living hostages and the bodies of deceased hostages within a specified timeframe. So far, the remains of 23 Israeli hostages have been returned, alongside three foreign hostages. Israel has so far given back the bodies of 330 Palestinians as part of this exchange.
Despite these developments, the recovery of the remaining two deceased hostages remains slow. Israel accuses Hamas of purposefully delaying the process, while Hamas claims difficulties in locating the bodies due to the rubble in Gaza. The situation has stalled progress on the second phase of a peace plan, which includes governance and reconstruction plans for Gaza. The ongoing conflict has resulted in significant casualties, with over 69,770 reported deaths in Gaza.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c17x0xjqj21o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss