Nov. 2 (UPI) — Israel has received the bodies of three more captives from Hamas and taken them to the National Institute for Forensic Medicine to be examined and identified, the Israeli Defense Forces said Sunday.
The IDF said in a statement that the bodies were presented by Hamas in three caskets to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which collected them and delivered them to Israeli soldiers inside Gaza. The bodies were then escorted across the border into Israel.
“The IDF urges the public to act with sensitivity and wait for official identification, which will first be communicated to the families of the deceased hostages,” the IDF said.
Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades said Saturday that it was ready to exhume the bodies of the three captives from inside the yellow line and had offered to hand them over to Israel.
Since entering a ceasefire with Hamas in October, Israel has carried out multiple operations beyond the yellow line, which marks the boundaries for Israeli troop deployment under the deal, shooting and bombing Palestinians in areas outside Israeli control.
Hamas has considered these to be violations of the ceasefire agreement.
On Friday, Hamas had returned the partial remains of three people, but Israel said that forensic testing revealed that the bodies did not belong to any of the Israeli captives.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian affairs said Sunday that it continues to operate health facilities in Gaza, with work including the screening of young children for malnutrition.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which they agreed that “humanitarian aid must reach the people of Gaza safely and in sufficient quantities.”
Meanwhile, the family of a Palestinian held captive by Israel for 27 years said he faced a severe health decline, Al-Jazeera reported.
He was arrested in April 1997 and received multiple life sentences.
Palestinian media also reported Sunday that Israeli forces continued to raid several areas across the occupied West Bank, detaining a child in Tubas, as Israeli settlers plowed through Palestinian land in the town of Idhna in preparation to seize and annex it.
