Israel said on Monday that the Red Cross had handed over the body of another deceased hostage from Gaza to the Israeli military, according to a statement by the Israeli prime minister’s office.
Egyptian technical team working with Red Cross in Gaza to locate bodies of deceased hostages
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Israel said on Monday that the Red Cross had handed over the body of another deceased hostage from Gaza to the Israeli military, according to a statement by the Israeli prime minister’s office.
If the identity of the deceased hostage is confirmed, it would mean that the remains of 12 hostages remain in Gaza. Palestinian militant group Hamas has cited obstacles to locating them in the rubble left by the fighting.
The recovery and handover of bodies of deceased hostages in Gaza has been one of the obstacles to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan.
An Israeli government spokesperson said on Sunday that the militant group knows where the bodies were.
Israel on Sunday allowed the entry of an Egyptian technical team to work with the Red Cross to locate the bodies. The team would use excavator machines and trucks for the search beyond the so-called yellow line in Gaza behind which Israeli troops have initially pulled back under Trump’s plan.
WATCH | Funerals held for returned hostages:
It was a sombre day in Israel as more funerals took place for some hostages whose remains were repatriated from Gaza earlier this week. Israel is demanding that Hamas return the bodies of the 19 hostages it has not yet handed over, with Hamas saying it requires heavy machinery to access them. In total, nine bodies of hostages have been returned.
