Israel receives four more hostage bodies from Hamas
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Jerusalem: Israel has received the bodies of four hostages handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross in Gaza.
According to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the bodies were transferred to personnel of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet inside Gaza before being brought across the border under military escort.
The remains have been sent to the National Centre of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification. Unlike Monday’s handover, Hamas did not reveal the identities of the deceased in advance, and Israeli officials said the victims have yet to be identified, Xinhua news agency reported.
“After the identification process is completed, an official notification will be delivered to the families,” Netanyahu’s office said.
On Monday, Hamas returned the bodies of four hostages and released 20 surviving captives as part of a ceasefire agreement under which Israel freed around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners.
Israel has said that about 20 more bodies of hostages remain in Gaza and demanded that Hamas hand them over as well.
Earlier on Monday, Israel announced that Hamas no longer holds any living Israeli hostages, with the remaining 13 captives handed over to the IDF and now on their way home after more than two years in captivity.
This was the second group of hostages to be released. The first group included seven Israeli men, Gali and Ziv Berman, Matan Angrest, Alon Ohel, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor and Guy Gilboa-Dallal, who were freed after 738 days in Hamas captivity.
The Red Cross facilitated the handover of both the deceased and surviving hostages to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.