Israel on Saturday handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza, officials said, a day after Hamas returned the remains of an Israeli hostage under a fragile U.S.-brokered cease-fire aimed at maintaining a truce in Israel’s two-year war on the blockaded enclave.
The exchange marked another step forward for the tenuous, U.S.-brokered truce. As part of the deal, Israel has returned the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage.
The Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said the 15 bodies were brought there.
The return came shortly after Israel confirmed the remains given back Friday night were of an Israeli man who was killed during the October 2023 events. The hostage body was identified as that of Lior Rudaeff, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office.
His body was taken to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, by members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, the statement added.
Since the cease-fire took effect on Oct. 10, Hamas has released the remains of 23 hostages, including Rudaeff's body, with five still remaining in Gaza.
Including the remains returned on Saturday, Israel has handed over the bodies of 300 Palestinians. Health officials in Gaza have struggled to identify the bodies without access to DNA kits and have identified 84 of the bodies.
Under the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, Israel is supposed to allow substantially more aid into Gaza.
However, relief efforts under the pact still fall well short of what is needed in Gaza, according to Farhan Haqq, deputy spokesperson for the United Nations. More than 200,000 metric tons in aid is positioned to move into Gaza, but only 37,000 tons, mostly food, have been admitted, he said.
Phase one of the cease-fire deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.
Israel has killed nearly 69,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,600 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.
