Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced today that Israel received the remains of two hostages from the Red Cross in Gaza, and they will be transferred to Israel.
Earlier, Hamas stated that it would hand over the remains of the hostages today. This development follows a wave of intense Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip yesterday, casting a shadow over the fragile ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that the Red Cross acquired the remains from Hamas in Gaza and that they are currently en route to Israeli forces. After their arrival, the remains will be verified and subsequently buried in Israel.
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas released all living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. In return, Israel withdrew its forces and agreed to halt its offensive.
Hamas has also committed to delivering the remains of all 28 deceased hostages in exchange for the remains of 360 Palestinian militants killed during the conflict, but thus far, only 17 of those remains have been handed over.
Israel claims that Hamas is obstructing the transfer of the remaining remains, while Hamas denies this, citing difficulties in locating and retrieving the remains and stating that the process will take time.