Israel has received two coffins via the Red Cross from Gaza, which Hamas states contain the bodies of deceased hostages. The Israeli prime minister’s office confirmed that the bodies will be sent to the National Centre of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification. Hamas’s armed wing claimed to have recovered the bodies of Israeli hostages Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch.
The Israeli government accused Hamas of breaching a ceasefire agreement after the group reportedly delivered a coffin containing human remains not belonging to any of the 13 deceased Israeli and foreign hostages still held in Gaza. Forensic testing indicated that the remains belonged to Ofir Tzarfati, a hostage whose body was recovered by Israeli forces in late 2023.
Video released by the Israeli military showed Hamas members extracting a body bag from a Gaza building, reburying it, and subsequently staging the discovery in the presence of Red Cross staff. The Red Cross responded by stating that its personnel were unaware of the body’s relocation prior to their arrival, calling the staged recovery “unacceptable.” Hamas has denied the allegations and accused Israel of fabricating reasons to escalate tensions.
Later, the Israeli government accused Hamas of another ceasefire violation after an Israeli soldier was reportedly killed in southern Gaza. Hamas claimed it was not involved in the incident. In response, Israel’s prime minister ordered airstrikes across Gaza, targeting what the military described as “dozens of terror targets and terrorists.” According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, 104 Palestinians were killed that day, marking the deadliest incident since the ceasefire began on October 10.
U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the ceasefire agreement, facilitated by the U.S., Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, should remain intact, although he urged Israel to retaliate if its soldiers were targeted. Under the ceasefire terms, Hamas was to return 20 living and 28 deceased hostages within 72 hours. The primary hostages were released on October 13 in exchange for a significant number of Palestinian prisoners. So far, Israel has exchanged bodies of deceased individuals in connection to hostage returns.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gj90j2g8jo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss