Hamas returned eight bodies but Israel says DNS tests confirmed one of them was not a hostage. With the other two bodies this evening, 9 bodies have been returned and 19 remain in Gaza, which means that Hamas has failed to find almost two thirds of the dead hostages.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that the bodies of two hostages held hostage by Hamas have been handed over to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. Haaretz writes it. According to the statement, Israel received the remains via the Red Cross. The bodies were handed over to an IDF and Shin Bet unit inside Gaza and will be transferred to Israel, where they will be welcomed with a military ceremony in the presence of the Chief Rabbi of the Army. After the military reception, the bodies will be transferred to the National Center of Forensic Medicine of the Ministry of Health for identification. Once the process is complete, families will be officially notified.
The families of three dead hostages were informed by army officials on Wednesday morning that their loved ones’ bodies were among four bodies returned to Israel the previous evening.
The remains of the fourth were not of a hostage, but of a Palestinian citizen from Jericho, who – reports Kan TV – operated together with the security forces in the underground tunnels and was killed by Hamas terrorists a year and a half ago. Probably, writes the Times of Israel, a human shield used by the Israeli army to search buildings and tunnels.
Israeli authorities believe Hamas handed over the body by mistake and unintentionally. In the evening, Qatari sources told the broadcaster al Araby that another five coffins will be transferred to the IDF. However, the Rafah crossing – between Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai – remained closed throughout the day, for the second consecutive day, contrary to what was foreseen in the ceasefire agreement. A measure taken by the Israeli authorities after accusing Hamas of not having respected its commitment to return the bodies of all the hostages who died in the Strip.
ANSA AgencySources from the Times of Israel said that the opening of the gate will take place under the supervision of the European Union Border Assistance Mission. And it will be open to both people and vehicles. Israel would also reverse retaliation against Hamas, including reducing by half the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the enclave. Meanwhile, the president of the Palestinian National Authority Abu Mazen has taken a clear position against the executions carried out by Hamas militiamen against opponents in Gaza and those he considers traitors, i.e. Palestinians who have provided information to the Israeli army. “We condemn the mass executions carried out by Hamas and documented in Gaza in recent days.
They are heinous crimes that have no justification and reflect Hamas’ insistence on ruling through force and terror,” the bureau wrote in a statement, adding that “these violations must be stopped immediately and that restoring the legitimate institutions of the Palestinian people in Gaza is the only way to end the state of chaos and rebuild national trust.” From US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, he called “urgently on Hamas to immediately stop the violence and shootings against innocent Palestinian civilians, both in the areas of Gaza that it controls and in those protected by the IDF behind the Yellow Line”. Since the first day of the truce, armed men from the organization have settled scores with their adversaries by killing dozens of Gazans, even in public, as shown by several videos posted on social media by the enclave. In some videos in addition to live executions, militiamen are seen transporting the bodies of murdered traitors in pick-ups. In one of the clashes with the Dughmush clan of Gaza City, the most famous influencer in the Strip, Saleh al-Jafarawi, known by the nickname Mr Fafo (acronym for ‘fuck around and find out’), was also killed four days ago. for the praise of Hamas and for the accusation of having pocketed 13 million dollars in donations intended for the population. During the day, the families of Sergeant Tamir Nimrod, 18, Uriel Baruch, 35, and Eitan Lev, 53, were informed by the IDF that the remains had been identified.
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