Hamas has announced it will return the body of an Israeli hostage on Tuesday, a development linked to October’s fragile ceasefire.
The truce has endured despite ongoing Israeli strikes on Gaza, mounting Palestinian casualties, and mutual accusations of violations.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it had located the body earlier this week in Nuseirat, a refugee camp in central Gaza.
Hamas confirmed via Telegram that the remains would be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday afternoon.
Since the US-brokered ceasefire commenced on 10 October, Palestinian militants have released 25 hostage bodies.
Three bodies are still thought to be in Gaza, with the slow pace of the exchanges continually threatening the ongoing truce.
Hamas says it has not been able to reach all of the remains because they are buried under rubble from Israel’s two-year offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Israel, meanwhile, has accused the militants of dragging their feet and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned.
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that the delay amounted to a ceasefire violation.
Israel has released the bodies of 330 Palestinians back to Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect.
Palestinian officials have struggled to identify the bodies without access to DNA kits.
Only 95 have been identified, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals.
It maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.
Israel has not provided details on their identities.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, children and families are confronting the aftermath of heavy rains, which have left thousands once again displaced and exposed to the elements.
The rains have underscored the dire humanitarian conditions millions in Gaza face.
The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023. Some 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage.
Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 69,775 Palestinians have been killed and 170,863 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive.
The toll has gone up during the ceasefire, both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.
The ministry reports 345 have been killed and, in total, 588 bodies recovered since the ceasefire began.
It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed.
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