Israel’s military reported that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas as part of the ceasefire deal does not match any of the hostages held in Gaza. This adds to tensions over the fragile ceasefire, as Israel continues to demand the return of all deceased hostages under the US-proposed agreement
Displaced Palestinians walk past destroyed buildings as they return to their homes in the in al-Zahra area, in the central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. PIC/AFP
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas the previous day as part of the ceasefire deal is not that of one of the hostages who was held in Gaza, adding to tensions over a fragile ceasefire in the two-year war. Four bodies were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday to ease pressure on the fragile ceasefire, following the first four on Monday, when the last 20 living hostages were released. In all, Israel was awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 deceased hostages.
The military said that “following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages”. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded earlier on Wednesday that Hamas fulfil the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal, introduced by US President Donald Trump, about the return of the hostages’ bodies. “We will not compromise on this and will not stop our efforts until we return the last deceased hostage, until the last one,” he said.
The US-proposed ceasefire plan had called for all hostages, living and dead, to be handed over by a deadline that expired on Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand over all as soon as possible.
This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to Israel. Earlier this year during a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons. Israelis endured another moment of agony when testing showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Bibas’s body was returned a day later and positively identified.
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