Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine on Thursday identified the remains of two more hostages returned from Gaza, as officials and families warned Hamas to hand over the bodies of those still held.
Amid a fragile ceasefire that halted two years of war, Palestinians were awaiting a long-promised increase in aid to Gaza, and plans to deploy an international force there were beginning to take shape.
Since Monday’s exchange, Hamas has returned 10 bodies, nine of which have been identified by Israel’s military as those of hostages. Israel said there were a total of 28 in Gaza before the exchange.
Israel freed in exchange for the release of hostages approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners And to the prisoners on Monday.
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Israel’s foreign minister said that could happen on Sunday, as hopes rise for aid and access to territory under the ceasefire agreement.
Gideon Saar made the comments to reporters after meeting with European and other officials at the Med Dialogues meeting in Naples, Italy, Italian news agency ANSA reports.
“We are making all the necessary preparations. It is also coordinated with the EU’s EUBAM force and, as far as I know, also with the Palestinians themselves,” Saar said, referring to a unit of EU monitors in Rafah. “So it will probably be opened this Sunday. I hope it will be open and every effort will be made to make it so.”
The crossing, which links Gaza and Egypt, has in the past been a vital entry point for food, medicine and other supplies that Gaza’s approximately 2.3 million people desperately need.
COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry that oversees humanitarian aid in Gaza, said on Thursday that humanitarian aid would not pass through the Rafah crossing. It added that humanitarian aid continues to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing and other routes following Israeli security inspections.
Despite obstacles and delays in getting aid into Gaza, U.N. officials said Thursday they have used this time to work with Israeli officials to get even more aid in preparation for the crossing’s reopening.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said a total of 200,000 metric tons of aid had been approved to enter Gaza once authorities get the green light to continue their work.
Meanwhile, Dujarric said the aid that was able to reach Gaza on Sunday was being rapidly distributed to Palestinians by various UN agencies, including more than one million diapers.
Thursday’s developments bring the total number of bodies of Palestinians handed over by Israel since the ceasefire agreement to 120.
While the remains have been moved, wrapped in body bags and numbered over the past three days, none of them have been identified. The international organization said they were handed over through the Red Cross as part of an exchange of human remains of hostages.
It was not immediately known whether they were Palestinians who died in Israeli prisons or whose bodies were taken from Gaza by Israeli soldiers. The health ministry in Gaza posted photos of about half the bodies returned so far and asked families to come forward if they recognized any of their relatives. Some bodies were badly mutilated, missing organs or teeth, and doctors said some of the bodies returned showed signs of abuse.
An Israeli court has extended the detention of Gaza’s prominent hospital director Dr. Hossam Abu Safia, his family and an Israeli rights group involved in his defense.
Abu Safiya led Kamel Adwan Hospital during an 85-day siege last year and documented the incident on social media, becoming the face of the struggle to continue treating patients under Israeli siege and bombardment.
He has been detained without charge by Israel for approximately ten months since his arrest in December 2024. Israeli officials said he was under investigation on suspicion of collaborating with Hamas – a charge his staff and international aid groups working with him denied.
On Thursday, the Palestinian human rights organization Al Mezan, Abu Safiya’s family and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said they had been informed that he would not be released, despite earlier indications that he might be one of the Hundreds of Palestinians who returned to Gaza were detained without charge As part of this week’s exchange.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel noted that 17 other Palestinian doctors were detained in Israel without charge.
“His continued detention serves no real justice – it only harms the Palestinian people’s right to health.”
There was no comment from Israeli officials.
A Hamas political official has defended the killings of alleged gang members by Hamas forces in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.
Ahmed Abdul Hadi, Hamas’s political representative in Lebanon, publicly said of those killed, “Those targeted caused death and corruption in Gaza and killed displaced persons and aid-seekers, and, even more dangerous, they represented the origins and foundation of Israel’s Zionist project.”
“This was done by Palestinian national and tribal consensus,” he said.
Abdul Hadi also claimed that Israel had made last-minute changes to the list of Palestinian prisoners to be released to remove high-profile figures such as Marwan Barghouti.
“We demanded much more than that and put all the major leaders on the list, which was approved by the Zionist delegation in Cairo,” he said. “When it went to the government for approval, they removed the first 25 names.”
An Israeli airstrike targeting top leaders of Yemen’s Houthi rebels in August killed the chief of staff of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said Thursday, further escalating tensions between the group and Israel even as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip continues.
The Houthis first acknowledged the killing of Major General Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamri, who was sanctioned by the United Nations for his role in the country’s decades-long war.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed murder shortly afterwards, saying that al-Ghamari had died of wounds sustained in the attack and had joined “his fellow members of the axis of evil in the depths of hell”.
International efforts to map out Gaza’s future – including Trump’s 20-point plan – have largely postponed the return to power of the Palestinian Authority, led by Hamas’s rivals, unless it makes major reforms.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said in Ramallah on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority plan would be directly based on the Arab-led initiative announced in March. He stressed that reconstruction “must be based on Palestinian national ownership and leadership.” Israeli and American officials rejected that plan at the time.
Although he did not mention them directly, Mustafa’s comments contrasted with proposals that would place Gaza under internationally supervised transitional governance led by a technocratic, apolitical committee.
The Ramallah-based authority has not controlled Gaza since Hamas seized power in 2007 and is distrusted by both Israel’s right-wing government and many Palestinians.
Mustafa said the PA’s program aims to rebuild Gaza and better connect it with the occupied West Bank, which it currently administers. He said the plan includes making up for the estimated $67 billion in losses.
“The recovery will not only restore homes, schools, hospitals and infrastructure,” Mustafa said. “Hopefully this will restore hope to our people, strengthen governance, empower communities and build resilience against future shocks.”
Hailing the ceasefire in Gaza, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU remains committed to stability and reconstruction in the war-ravaged coastal region.
“This is a very special moment for the Mediterranean, but also for Europe,” von der Leyen said in Brussels. “As we both share a common future of peace and cooperation, despite often unimaginable pain and loss, the devastating war in Gaza has now ended, marking an important moment not only for Gaza, but also for the EU and the wider Mediterranean.”
The 27-nation bloc is the largest donor to the Palestinian Authority and has pledged to bring flood aid to Gaza and a police assistance program from the West Bank to help with stabilization.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc had launched a new donor platform to finance reconstruction in Gaza. He said that “maintaining peace in Gaza requires strong international support, which also means the European Union.”
Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine on Thursday identified the remains of two hostages returned from Gaza, as authorities warned Hamas to hand over the rest.
The Israeli military said the bodies were those of Nova concert attendees Inbar Heyman and Sgt. Muhammad al-Atresh, who was killed in fighting on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, sparking the war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel is “making determined, committed and tireless efforts to return all of our deceased hostages to their homeland for proper burial.”
Hamas and the Red Cross have said that recovering the remains was a challenge due to the massive destruction in Gaza, and Hamas has told mediators that some of the bodies are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.
The UN humanitarian chief is visiting a key Israeli-controlled crossing from Egypt to the Gaza Strip on Thursday, as aid groups try to speed up deliveries of food and other basic necessities to ease hunger, disease and crumbling sanitation.
“This route is a vital lifeline for food, medicine, tents and other life-saving aid. We want to see it filled with trucks as part of a huge increase in aid after the peace deal,” UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher wrote on Twitter.
A day earlier, Fletcher warned that hopes pinned on last week’s ceasefire could fade amid a “setback” to getting aid into Gaza, while the World Food Program said the situation remained unpredictable. Fletcher urged Hamas to return the bodies of the deceased hostages and promised Israel to proceed with the aid outlined in the agreement.
Turkey has appointed a special envoy to coordinate humanitarian assistance to Gaza and ensure rapid delivery of aid, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said on Thursday.
Officials said Ambassador Mehmet Guluoglu had been named coordinator for humanitarian assistance in Palestine, and was already posted to Gaza. She and her team will assess immediate needs, coordinate with UN agencies, support their operations and consult with authorities in Egypt and Jordan to manage logistics. The officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the issue, said the envoy would also work to strengthen medical aid and monitor the evacuation of patients in need.
Separately, Turkey’s emergency response authority, AFAD, is preparing to deploy an 81-person search and rescue team to assist in the recovery of missing bodies and the removal of debris, according to reports by Turkey’s IHA news agency and other media. Turkish officials would not confirm the reports.
Turkey has delivered 102,000 tonnes of aid to Gaza by sea and air since the conflict began in October 2023.
Turkish officials have said that following the ceasefire, an additional shipment of 865 tonnes was sent by sea on 14 October.
– By Suzanne Fraser
The Red Cross said Israel found the remains of two more hostages on Wednesday.
The remains were transferred from Hamas by the Red Cross. After the two coffins arrived in Israel, the army cautioned in a statement that the identities of the hostages had not yet been verified.
“Israeli health and forensic authorities are responsible for identifying the remains of the deceased,” the ICRC said in a statement confirming the transfer was facilitated.
It added, “The parties should endeavor to facilitate the return of the remains of the deceased to their families. The ICRC can fulfill its functions as a neutral arbiter only in cooperation with all actors and within the framework of existing agreements.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
