Hamas on Sunday handed over to Israel the remains of three hostages captured during the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Before the handover, the terrorist group wrote on its Telegram channel: “The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades will hand over the bodies… which were found today at 8:00 pm Gaza time on the passage of one of the tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip.” [1800 GMT],
About an hour later, the Israeli army confirmed that the International Red Cross had found the bodies of three people.
“The three coffins of the dead hostages have been transferred to their coffins [Red Cross] are in custody and are being transported to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip,” the army said in a statement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced minutes later that the Red Cross had handed over the bodies to the Israeli military, and said the remains would be identified at a forensic medical facility.
Fragile ceasefire in Gaza
Israel and Hamas agreed to a hostage-prisoner swap as part of a ceasefire agreement for the Gaza war, which took effect on October 10.
Hamas released 20 surviving hostages in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinians held hostage by Israel.
The group has also started handling the remains of those killed. Of the 28 bodies, 17 have been returned so far, mostly Israelis.
However, forensic scientists have found that some of the remains did not belong to Israeli detainees.
Israel has accused the militant group of dragging its feet, while Hamas says the process is slow because many remains are buried under the debris of Gaza’s destroyed buildings.
The issue is one of the disputes preventing full implementation of the US-brokered ceasefire.
Edited by Shawn Sinico