Israel has acquired, by way of the Pink Cross, a coffin that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) say incorporates the physique of one of many final three deceased hostages nonetheless in Gaza, in line with the Israeli prime minister’s workplace.
Israeli forces will now switch the physique to Israel’s Nationwide Centre of Forensic Medication in Tel Aviv for identification.
Earlier, PIJ and Hamas introduced that the physique of an Israeli hostage had been present in central Gaza on Monday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace warned that it seen “with severity the delay within the speedy switch” of the physique, saying it constituted a “additional violation” of the six-week-old Gaza ceasefire settlement.
Following the handover in central Gaza on Tuesday afternoon, the workplace introduced that the households of the three useless hostages had been up to date accordingly.
“Our hearts are with them on this tough hour,” it added. “The hassle to return our hostages is ongoing and won’t stop till the final hostage is returned.”
Underneath the primary part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, which took impact on 10 October, Hamas agreed to return the 20 residing Israeli hostages and the our bodies of the 28 useless Israeli and international hostages nonetheless in Gaza inside 72 hours.
All of the residing hostages had been launched on 13 October in alternate for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
Thus far, the stays of twenty-two useless Israeli hostages have been handed over, together with these of three international hostages – one in every of them Thai, one Nepalese and one Tanzanian.
In alternate, Israel has handed over the our bodies of 330 Palestinians killed throughout the battle.
Two of the three remaining useless hostages are Israelis – Ran Gvili, 24, and Dror Or, 48 – and one is Thai – Suthisak Rintalak, 43.
Israel has accused Hamas of intentionally delaying the restoration of the our bodies, whereas Hamas has insisted it’s struggling to search out them below rubble.
The sluggish progress has meant there was no advance on the second part of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. This contains plans for the governance of Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction.
The useless hostages nonetheless in Gaza had been among the many 251 folks kidnapped throughout the Hamas-led assault on Israel on 7 October 2023, throughout which about 1,200 different folks had been killed.
Israel responded by launching a navy marketing campaign in Gaza, throughout which greater than 69,770 folks have been killed, in line with the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.
