The Palestinian group Islamic Jihad handed over, this Friday (7), the body of a dead hostage, as part of the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said a coffin containing the remains of a hostage had been handed over to Israeli security forces in Gaza through the Red Cross and will be transported to Israel for identification.
Islamic Jihad is an armed group allied with Hamas, which also took hostages during the attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
According to reports, it was found in the city of Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Under the terms of the October ceasefire agreement, Hamas handed over all 20 living hostages still held in Gaza since the group’s attack on Israel in 2023, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians convicted and detained during the war held in Israel.
The ceasefire agreement also included the return of the remains of 28 dead hostages in exchange for the remains of 360 Palestinians.
of Palestinians, although not all have been identified, according to Gaza health authorities.
Hamas-led men took 251 hostages in the 2023 attack and killed another 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli data.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 69,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health officials in Gaza.
The fragile ceasefire calmed most but not all of the fighting, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. Israel withdrew troops from positions in the cities and allowed in more humanitarian aid.
