Key Points
- Israel received a body that Hamas says belongs to one of the last two deceased hostages in Gaza.
- Returning the final hostage bodies is a key condition of the first phase of the plan to end the Gaza war.
- Hamas and Israel have both traded blame for violating the US-backed agreement.
Israel has received a body that Hamas said was one of the last two deceased hostages in the Gaza Strip, as Israel said it would allow Gaza's gateway to Egypt to open once all hostages were returned.
A body has been transferred by the Red Cross to the Israeli military and will undergo forensic identification, a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said.
Hamas also handed over remains on Tuesday, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office later said were not of any hostage.
The handover of the last hostages' bodies in Gaza would complete a key condition of the initial part of United States President Donald Trump's plan to end the Gaza war, which also provides for the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to open in both directions.
Israel has kept the crossing shut since the ceasefire came into effect in October, saying Hamas must abide by the agreement to return all hostages still in Gaza, living and deceased.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters: "The crossing will be opened both ways when all of our hostages have been returned."
Since the truce deal came into effect, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and 26 bodies in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, but two more deceased captives are still in Gaza.
Israel has continued to strike Gaza and conduct demolitions against what it says is Hamas infrastructure. Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violating the US-backed agreement.
Israeli forces have killed 357 Palestinians over the first 50 days of the ceasefire, according to Gaza's health ministry. Palestinian militants killed three Israeli soldiers during this time, according to Israeli authorities.
Efforts to recover hostage remains
The armed wing of the Hamas-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, the Al Quds Brigades, said it had found a hostage's body after conducting a search in northern Gaza, along with a team from the Red Cross.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they had handed over the body to the Red Cross late on Wednesday afternoon. The groups did not say which of the two remaining deceased hostages they believed it to be.
The two are Israeli police officer Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, both kidnapped during Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.
COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees humanitarian matters, said the Rafah crossing would be opened in the coming days to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt.
The decision to open the crossing for those seeking to leave Gaza was made in "full coordination" with those who have mediated between Israel and Hamas during the war, Bedrosian said.
Egypt, along with Qatar and the US, has acted as a mediator.
COGAT said it would be opened under the supervision of a European Union mission — a similar mechanism to that employed during a previous Gaza ceasefire agreed in January 2025.
At least 16,500 patients in Gaza require medical care outside of the enclave, according to the United Nations. Some Gazans have managed to leave for medical treatment abroad through Israel.
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