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Remains of three people were handed over Hamas till red cross This week is not of any mortgage, and Israel The latest development that could undermine a US-brokered deal for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, a military official said on Saturday.
The delivery came after Israel returned 30 bodies on Friday. Palestinians To GazaThe exchange came after militants turned over the remains of two hostages earlier this week, a sign that the strained Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is moving forward.
The unidentified remains of the three men were returned to Israel late Friday, where they were examined overnight. At the time, another Israeli military official warned that Israeli intelligence showed they were not related to any of the hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war.
A second Israeli military official confirmed Saturday that they were not hostages. It was unclear who they might be and why they were returned to Israel.
Both officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
A Hamas spokesman did not immediately respond to calls and messages seeking comment.
Since the US implemented a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on October 10, Palestinian militants have released the remains of 17 hostages held in Gaza for the past two years.
But the process of returning the bodies of the remaining 11 hostages, as called for under the ceasefire agreement, is progressing slowly, with militants releasing only one or two bodies every few days.
The total number of Palestinian bodies returned by Israel since the ceasefire began has now reached 225. According to Gaza’s health ministry, only 75 of them have been identified by families. It is unclear whether those who returned were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023 attack, whether they died in Israeli custody as captives or were recovered from Gaza by troops during the war.
The fragile ceasefire faced its biggest challenge earlier this week when Israel launched attacks across Gaza that killed more than 100 people following the killing of an Israeli soldier in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah and the incomplete return of hostages.