Hamas has handed over to the Red Cross in northern Gaza a coffin containing what the Palestinian group says is the body of a deceased hostage, according to the Israeli military.
The remains will be transferred to Israeli forces, who will take them to the National Centre of Foreign Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.
Earlier, Hamas's armed wing said it had recovered the body of an Israeli soldier in the eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City. Israel had allowed members of the group and Red Cross staff to search for the remains in the area, which is inside territory still controlled by Israeli forces.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the dead hostages since a ceasefire deal took effect more than three weeks ago, alleging that Hamas is finding it difficult to locate bodies under rubble.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect on 10 October, Hamas agreed to return 20 living and 28 dead hostages within 72 hours. All the living Israeli hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
Israel has handed over the bodies of 270 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the 18 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas before Tuesday, including those of two foreign hostages - one of them Thai and the other Nepalese. Six of the eight dead hostages still in Gaza before Tuesday were Israelis, one was Tanzanian, and one was Thai, mostly captured during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
The ongoing military campaign by Israel has seen significant casualties, with more than 68,800 reported killed according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Earlier on Tuesday, a hospital official in Gaza City reported that a man was killed by Israeli fire in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, with Israeli military attributing the act to self-defense against a perceived threat.}
The remains will be transferred to Israeli forces, who will take them to the National Centre of Foreign Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.
Earlier, Hamas's armed wing said it had recovered the body of an Israeli soldier in the eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City. Israel had allowed members of the group and Red Cross staff to search for the remains in the area, which is inside territory still controlled by Israeli forces.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the dead hostages since a ceasefire deal took effect more than three weeks ago, alleging that Hamas is finding it difficult to locate bodies under rubble.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect on 10 October, Hamas agreed to return 20 living and 28 dead hostages within 72 hours. All the living Israeli hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
Israel has handed over the bodies of 270 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of the 18 Israeli hostages returned by Hamas before Tuesday, including those of two foreign hostages - one of them Thai and the other Nepalese. Six of the eight dead hostages still in Gaza before Tuesday were Israelis, one was Tanzanian, and one was Thai, mostly captured during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.
The ongoing military campaign by Israel has seen significant casualties, with more than 68,800 reported killed according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Earlier on Tuesday, a hospital official in Gaza City reported that a man was killed by Israeli fire in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, with Israeli military attributing the act to self-defense against a perceived threat.}
