Hamas handed over three bodies to the Israeli military through the International Committee of the Red Cross, but the Israeli military said they did not belong to any of the hostages. The process of handing over the bodies continues.
The three bodies that the Palestinian movement Hamas handed over to the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip on Friday evening are not expected to belong to any of the hostages. This was announced by the Israeli army on Saturday, TASR reports, according to reports from the AFP agency and The Times of Israel (TOI) portal.
According to the Israeli military, forensic analysis confirmed that the bodies did not belong to any of the 11 deceased hostages yet to be handed over by Hamas under a US-brokered ceasefire deal. Since the ceasefire began, Hamas has returned 17 bodies.
Three unidentified bodies were handed over through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) based on the consent of all parties. Neither the Palestinian movement nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have yet officially commented on this. After the October truce came into effect, Hamas handed over the 20 surviving hostages held since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and then gradually began returning the bodies of the dead.
Israel blames Hamas for violating the agreement because it says the process is moving too slowly. The movement had to hand over the remains of 28 hostages within 72 hours of the cessation of hostilities. However, Hamas says that the search for remains under the ruins in the Gaza Strip requires more time.
