Tel aviv: Israel announced on Tuesday that remains returned from the Gaza Strip are not of the two captives still believed to be held in the enclave. The Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv confirmed that the remains, handed over by Red Cross teams to Israeli forces inside Gaza, did not match those of the unaccounted hostages, as reported by the public broadcaster KAN.
According to Anadolu Agency, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office had earlier communicated the receipt of these 'findings' from Red Cross teams. A senior Red Cross official shared with The Times of Israel that what was transferred consisted of 'small remains, pieces' of a body. However, Hamas has not released any statement regarding these remains.
In a related development, Husam Badran, a member of Hamas's political bureau, commented on Qatar's Al Jazeera channel that the issue of the bodies is merely a 'pretext used by the Israeli occupation to avoid fulfilling its obligations.' Israel has tied the commencement of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which began on October 10, to the retrieval of all its captives' bodies. While Israel claims that remains of two captives are still in Gaza, Hamas asserts it has already handed over all 20 living Israeli captives and the remains of the 28 who were killed.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Media Office reports that there are 9,500 missing Palestinians, killed by the Israeli army, whose bodies remain under the rubble. The ceasefire agreement had previously paused two years of Israeli attacks that resulted in over 70,000 Palestinian deaths and more than 171,000 injuries since October 2023. However, violations of the agreement have occurred, with Israel reportedly opening fire on Palestinian civilians in non-controlled areas, while Hamas maintains its commitment to the ceasefire terms and calls for U.S. intervention to ensure Israeli compliance.
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 357 Palestinians have been killed and more than 900 others injured in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire began.