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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 militant group Islamic Jihad, which maintains an alliance with Hamas, was involved in taking hostages during the assault on October 7, 2023, which marked the start of the Gaza conflict. The group recently reported that they discovered the body of one such hostage in Khan Younis, a city situated in the southern region 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, a total of 22 hostage bodies have been handed back. This exchange included 285 Palestinian bodies, although Gaza’s health officials have noted that not all of these bodies have been identified yet.
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 Israel has withdrawn troops from positions in cities and more aid has been allowed in.
