Hamas preparing to hand over more remains as Israel plans to allow Palestinians to exit Gaza

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas says it will hand over the remains of a hostage after Israel said it would allow Palestinians to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing; These were signs that the US-backed ceasefire was continuing despite earlier disruption over repatriated remains.

Hamas said it would return the newly discovered remains on Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear who they belonged to. Only two hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, and the return of both is expected to end the first phase of the deal.

The agreement stipulates that the Rafah crossing, which has been closed for a long time, will be opened for medical evacuations and travel to and from the region. The World Health Organization says there are more than 16,500 sick and injured people who must leave Gaza for medical care.

An Israeli official told the Associated Press that Rafah will only be open to Palestinians leaving Gaza and not entering Gaza. Egypt, which controls the other side, said the crossing would only be opened if movement was in both directions.

Following the changes, the 20-point plan calls for: Creating an international stabilization forceEstablish a technocratic Palestinian government and disarm Hamas.

Planned handover comes after disruption

Hamas said it would return another hostage at 5 p.m. Once the remains are handed over to Israel, they will likely be tested to determine whether they belong to one of the hostages held in Gaza.

In an earlier issue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that forensic tests revealed that partial remains returned by militants on Tuesday did not match any of the hostages still in Gaza.

Palestinian militants began searching again and said they found the body of a hostage in northern Gaza later Wednesday.

Bodies of two hostages still in Gaza: Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai citizen Sudthisak Rinthalak. Gvili was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape. nova music festival He was killed while fighting elsewhere on 7 October 2023. Sudthisak Rinthalak was a Thai agricultural worker working on Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities hardest hit.

Total 31 workers from Thailand The largest group of foreigners held in captivity was kidnapped. Most were released in the first and second ceasefires. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 46 Thais, as well as hostages, were killed during the war.

Refah will open ‘in the coming days’

The statement that Palestinians should be allowed to leave Gaza via Rafah came from COGAT, the Israeli military organization responsible for facilitating aid to Gaza. It was stated that Israel will coordinate with Egypt regarding the exit of the Palestinians under the supervision of a mission from the European Union.

COGAT said those wishing to leave Gaza would need “Israeli security approval”.

The US State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, in its article about

However, an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational plans, said that if Egypt agrees, all Palestinians who want to leave Gaza can pass through Rafah.

The official said that the crossing will not be opened for those returning to Gaza.

The Egyptian State Intelligence Service denied that the Rafah crossing would only be for the exit of Palestinians in Gaza. Citing an unnamed Egyptian official, the service said that if an agreement is reached, the crossing would be for travel in both directions, in line with the plan developed by US President Donald Trump.

The crossing was closed in May 2024 when the Israeli army occupied the area. It was opened briefly in February this year to evacuate sick and injured Palestinians for treatment as part of a previous ceasefire agreement.

Israel appoints Lebanon ambassador

Israel will send an envoy to talks with Lebanese diplomatic and economic officials, Netanyahu said on Wednesday, saying it was “the first attempt to establish a basis for relations and economic cooperation” between the two countries.

Israeli media identified the envoy as Uri Resnick, a former diplomat and deputy director of foreign policy at the National Security Council.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he would appoint a civilian to the previously military-only committee that monitors the implementation of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the last Israel-Hezbollah war. He said the move was to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty and interests.

Israel and Lebanon have been at war since 1948. Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah waged a months-long war that ended in a shaky ceasefire a year ago.

Lebanese-appointed lawyer and former US ambassador Simon Karam will attend the committee meeting on Wednesday, Aoun said. The committee includes representatives from Lebanon, Israel, the United States, France and the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL.

Palestinian hospital announces that Israel killed one person in Gaza

A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a hospital said, marking the latest Palestinian death reported in Gaza.

According to Al Ahli hospital, which received the body, Israeli forces shot the 46-year-old man in the eastern Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The hospital said the man was shot in a “safe area” not controlled by the Israeli army under the terms of the ceasefire.

Gaza Ministry of Health announced that more than 360 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire came into force on October 11. The Ministry determines the total number of Palestinians who died during the war as of October 11. 70,100. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians but says about half of those killed were women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas-led government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records that are generally considered reliable by the international community.

The return of Palestinian bodies in change

Since the ceasefire began in early October, 20 live hostages and the remains of 26 people have been returned to Israel. Both Hamas and Israel have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire.

The exchange of dead formed the central component of the first phase of the US-brokered deal, which required Hamas to return the remains of all hostages as quickly as possible.

Israel releases Funeral of 15 Palestinians The Gaza Ministry of Health said the total number of bodies taken so far was 330. Health officials in Gaza said: I could only identify part of it. The process is complicated by the number of bodies handed over by Israel and the lack of DNA testing kits.

Talks continued as did Israel and Hamas we blamed each other for violating other terms of the agreement. Israeli officials accused Hamas of handing over some of the remains in some cases and of staging the discovery of the bodies in others.

Hamas accused Israel of opening fire on civilians and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid to the region. The death toll has fallen since the ceasefire took effect, but authorities in Gaza continue to report deaths from attacks while Israel says soldiers have also been killed in militant attacks.

The ceasefire aims to end the war triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed nearly 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Abby Sewell contributed from Beirut.