Israel has returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of bodies returned to 120, Hamas-appointed health authorities in the Palestinian territory and Nasr Hospital in Khan Yunis announced, quoted by Agence France-Presse, BTA reported.
Under the ceasefire agreement negotiated by US President Donald Trump, Israel must return the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every hostage body returned. Last night, Hamas handed over two more bodies to Israel and said it had returned all the bodies of the dead hostages it had access to.
Israel's National Institute of Forensic Medicine on Monday identified the remains of two more hostages returned from Gaza, as officials and families warned Hamas to hand over the bodies of those still being held, The Associated Press reported. The Israeli military said the bodies were those of Inbar Hayman, a visitor to the Nova music festival, and Sergeant Mohammed al-Atresh, who were killed in fighting on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, igniting the war.
Amid a fragile ceasefire that ended the two-year war, Palestinians were awaiting long-promised aid for Gaza, and plans to deploy international forces there were taking shape.
Since Monday, Hamas has returned 10 bodies, nine of which the Israeli military has identified as hostages. Israel said there were a total of 28 dead hostages in Gaza before the swap. In exchange for the hostages, Israel released about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Monday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said Israel was "working tirelessly to return all of our dead hostages for a proper burial in their homeland." "Hamas" and the Red Cross said that reaching the remains was difficult due to the extensive destruction in Gaza. "Hamas" told the mediators that some bodies were in areas controlled by Israeli forces.