Israeli Military Says 1 Of The Bodies Handed Over By Hamas Is Not That Of A Hostage

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military said Wednesday that one of the bodies was handed over to Hamas The absence of one of the hostages held in Gaza the previous day as part of the ceasefire agreement increases tensions due to the fragile ceasefire in the region. two years war.

The four bodies were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday in an attempt to ease pressure on the fragile ceasefire, following Monday’s first four when the last 20 living hostages were released. Israel was waiting for the return of the bodies of a total of 28 hostages who died.

The army said that “the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine did not match any of the hostages.”

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded early Wednesday that Hamas fulfill the conditions set out in the ceasefire agreement presented by the US President Donald Trump – about the return of the bodies of hostages.

“We will not compromise on this issue and we will not stop our efforts until we return the last dead hostage, the last one,” he said.

suggested by the USA ceasefire plan He called for the surrender of all hostages, living and dead, by a deadline ending Monday. However, according to the agreement, if this did not happen, Hamas would share information about the dead hostages and try to hand them all over as quickly as possible.

This is not the first time Hamas has returned the wrong body to Israel. During an earlier ceasefire earlier this year, the group said it had surrendered The bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons. Israelis experienced another painful moment when tests revealed that one of the returned bodies belonged to a Palestinian woman.

Bibas’ body was returned a day later and positively identified.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday that the group was working to return the hostages’ bodies as agreed in the ceasefire agreement. He accused Israel of violating the agreement by carrying out armed attacks on Tuesday in eastern Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah.

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the army was operating along the deployment lines outlined in the agreement and warned on Tuesday that anyone approaching the deployment line would be targeted, as was the case with many militants.

The bodies of two hostages whose bodies were released from Gaza will be buried on Wednesday. The family invited people to gather along the road Wednesday afternoon to escort a hostage’s body from the forensic science institute to a cemetery north of Tel Aviv.

In the past, tens of thousands of Israelis have lined the streets, standing silently with Israeli flags, to show respect for the bodies of hostages heading for burial.

Israelis on Monday famous return The last 20 hostages alive In Gaza and Palestinians rejoiced that Israel released nearly 2,000 prisoners and detainees as part of the first phase of the ceasefire.

Families and supporters of the hostages recently expressed sadness that so few of the 28 dead hostages were released. Hamas and the Red Cross said it was difficult to recover the remains of dead hostages due to the massive destruction in Gaza, and Hamas told the ceasefire negotiators that some were in areas controlled by Israeli troops.

On Monday night, Hamas released four bodies and followed up with four more late Tuesday.

from this second group of four bodiesThree have been identified: Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi.

Baruch was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. war in Gaza.

Nimrodi, who worked in the Israeli defense agency that oversees humanitarian aid in Gaza, was kidnapped by militants at the Erez border gate. The Hostages Family Forum, a group representing most of the hostages’ families, said Levi was kidnapped while driving a friend to Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas offensive.

Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.