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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said a coffin carrying the remains of a hostage has been handed over to Israeli security forces in Gaza via the Red Cross and will be transported into Israel for identification.
The Islamic Jihad, an armed faction aligned with Hamas, was involved in the hostage-taking during the October 7, 2023, assault that triggered the conflict in Gaza. The group reported that a hostage’s remains were discovered in Khan Younis, a city in the southern part of Gaza.
Under the October ceasefire deal Hamas turned over all 20 living hostages still held in Gaza since the group’s 2023 attack on Israel, in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees held in Israel.
The ceasefire agreement also included the return of remains of 28 deceased hostages in exchange for remains of 360 militants.
As of now, 22 hostage bodies have been exchanged for 285 Palestinian bodies, though Gaza’s health officials have yet to identify all of them.
Hamas-led militants seized 251 hostages in the 2023 attack and killed another 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 69,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, health officials in Gaza say.
The tenuous ceasefire has calmed most but not all fighting, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. Israel has withdrawn troops from positions in cities and more aid has been allowed in.
