Hamas to Return Bodies of Three Israeli Hostages as Ceasefire Remains Tense
GAZA – The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades,the military wing of Hamas,announced it will hand over the bodies of three Israeli hostages at 7 p.m. local time, as part of the ongoing ceasefire agreement with Israel. The group stated the bodies were “found earlier today along the route of one of the tunnels in the southern Gaza strip.”
the handover is part of a phased exchange outlined in the ceasefire agreement, which began on october 10th. To date, Hamas has returned 20 living hostages to Israel in exchange for hundreds of palestinian prisoners, along with 17 bodies of previously held captives. The agreement stipulated the return of 28 bodies in total.
Hamas has cited the “complex and tough” conditions in the ruined territory as contributing to delays in locating and returning the remains. These delays have drawn criticism from the Israeli government and prompted calls for action from the Forum of Hostage Families, who on Sunday demanded via X that “the Prime Minister acts with determination and firmness to ensure the immediate implementation of Hamas’ commitments within the framework of the agreement and repatriate to Israel all the deceased hostages.”
Eleven bodies remain unaccounted for, including those of one Tanzanian and one Thai national, as well as the remains of an Israeli soldier who died during the 2014 conflict.
Recent efforts to identify returned remains have yielded inconclusive results. On saturday, a forensic laboratory confirmed that three bodies handed over by Hamas through the red Cross were not those of hostages, according to an Israeli army spokesperson. The Ezzedine al-qassam Brigades claimed to have offered to hand over “three samples from a number of unidentified remains,” but stated, “the enemy refused (…) and demanded the bodies for examination.”
In a related development, the Israeli general in charge of hostage negotiations is concluding his duties. Details regarding his replacement have not yet been released.
