Hamas has reportedly delivered a coffin, which they claim contains the remains of a deceased hostage, to the Red Cross in northern Gaza. According to the Israeli military, these remains will be handed over to Israeli authorities, who plan to transfer them to the National Centre of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.
Prior to this, Hamas’s armed wing announced the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier in eastern Shejaiya, a neighborhood in Gaza City. Israel had permitted members of Hamas and Red Cross staff to conduct searches in locations still controlled by Israeli forces.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of intentionally delaying the identification and recovery of deceased hostages following a ceasefire agreement that commenced over three weeks ago. Meanwhile, Hamas has stated that the presence of rubble complicates their ability to locate the bodies.
Under a ceasefire brokered by the United States that started on October 10, Hamas committed to returning 20 living hostages and 28 deceased ones within a specified timeframe. All living Israeli hostages were released on October 13 in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
So far, Israel has returned the bodies of 270 Palestinians in exchange for 18 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas, along with two foreign hostages, one from Thailand and the other from Nepal. Of the eight deceased hostages remaining in Gaza before the recent delivery, six were Israeli, one was Tanzanian, and one was Thai. Notably, these deceased hostages were part of the 251 individuals taken during a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 fatalities.
In response to the ongoing situation, Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza, resulting in a reported death toll of over 68,800 people, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Additionally, a hospital official in Gaza City reported that an individual was killed due to Israeli fire in the Jabalia area. The Israeli military stated its forces killed a “terrorist” who had crossed the “Yellow Line,” which separates Israeli-controlled land, and posed a potential threat.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1wlz8j8lr4o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss