Israel announced Sunday that the remains of three hostages had been handed over from Gaza and would be examined by forensic experts, as a fragile, month-old ceasefire continues to hold.
According to The Associated Press, a Hamas statement earlier in the day said the remains were found in a tunnel in southern Gaza.
Since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, Palestinian militants have released the remains of 17 hostages, with 11 still believed to be in Gaza before Sunday’s transfer. Militants have typically returned one or two bodies every few days. Israel has pushed for quicker progress, though in some cases it has said the bodies handed over were not those of hostages. Hamas has claimed that recovery efforts are slowed by the extensive destruction across Gaza.
Israel’s military said official identification of the latest remains would be provided to families before any public release.
Emotions have run high among relatives of the hostages, who continue to hold weekly rallies. At a gathering in Jerusalem on Saturday, Moran Harari, a friend of the late Carmel Gat, pleaded for calm.
“This cursed war has taken so many lives of dear people on both sides of the fence. This time, we must not fall into it again,” Harari said.
Israel has also been returning the remains of 15 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of Israeli hostages.
Health officials in Gaza have struggled to identify bodies due to a lack of DNA testing kits. Of the 225 Palestinian bodies returned since the ceasefire began, only 75 have been identified, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which has posted photos online to help families recognize their loved ones.
The exchange is a central element of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement — a 20-point plan that includes establishing an international stabilization force made up of Arab and other nations to work with Egypt and Jordan to secure Gaza’s borders and enforce the truce.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that “there are still pockets of Hamas” operating in Rafah and Khan Younis.
“There are actually two in Rafah and Khan Younis, and they will be eliminated,” Netanyahu said during a Cabinet meeting.
The war, which began after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, has become the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hamas. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 68,800 Palestinians have been killed, though Israel disputes those figures.
