Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to the Nasser hospital this Friday, October 31, in exchange for two remains of Israeli hostages returned the day before by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, this establishment in the southern Gaza Strip stated.
“The bodies of 30 Palestinian prisoners were received from the Israeli side as part of the exchange agreement,” said the hospital, located in Khan Younes.
The hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked war in the Gaza Strip.
225 Palestinian remains returned
In total, in exchange for 15 Israeli remains, 225 Palestinian remains were returned under the terms of the ceasefire agreement in force since October 10. Since that date, Hamas has also returned two remains of non-Israeli hostages, a Thai and a Nepalese.
The Islamist movement has so far returned the remains of 17 of the 28 bodies that were still in Gaza and that should have been returned at the beginning of the truce, ensuring that locating the other remains is “complex” in the territory devastated by two years of war.
Egyptian teams authorized by Israel to enter Palestinian territory participate in the search with construction equipment.
On Monday afternoon, Hamas returned to Israel the remains of a hostage, identified as Ofir Tzarfati, part of whose remains had already been recovered twice.
Ten bodies of the October 7 hostages remain in Gaza
The successive delays in the delivery of the hostages’ bodies angered the Israeli government, which accused Hamas of violating the truce agreement. And the hostages’ families demanded tougher measures to force the Palestinian group to comply with the agreement.
The bodies of 10 hostages from October 7, as well as that of a soldier who died during a war in 2014, are believed to still be in Gaza. All are Israeli, except for a Tanzanian and a Thai.
Additionally, on two occasions since October 10, Israel has carried out massive bombings in Gaza in retaliation for gunfire that killed three of its soldiers. On October 19, Israeli bombings left at least 45 dead and on Tuesday 104.
Hamas, which denies shooting at Israeli soldiers, has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire.
Source: BFM TV
