Three remains were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross on Sunday and are on their way to Israel. The Israeli army (IDF) said this on Sunday evening confirmed. Whether the bodies are those of Israeli hostages remains to be investigated. According to the ceasefire agreements reached earlier in October, Hamas must hand over the bodies of 28 hostages to Israel. Without taking the bodies from Sunday, fourteen remains have now been returned, the last two last Thursday.
Last Friday, Hamas handed over three bodies, but according to Israel they turned out not to be hostages. It was not said who the bodies belonged to. Earlier in the day, Hamas reportedly offered Israel to send samples of the unidentified bodies, the AP reported. Israel would not have accepted that offer.
Israel believes that the return of bodies from the Gaza Strip is going too slowly and is going back on the ceasefire agreement that all hostages had to be returned within 72 hours of the start of the truce. According to Hamas, Israel itself is responsible for the difficult process of restitution. It will take time to find the bodies, Hamas said, because many buildings are in ruins due to Israeli bombing or because Hamas members who knew where the bodies are buried have been killed.
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Crisis in the Middle East
Hamas hands over three bodies to Israel
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