Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the bodies of three dead hostages from Gaza have been handed over, as a ceasefire holds.
“Israel received, through the Red Cross, the coffins of 3 fallen hostages, who were handed over to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and isa [Israel Security Agency] forces inside the Gaza Strip,” a statement Read from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The bodies will be transferred to Israel, where they will have a military ceremony, and then to the Health Ministry’s National Center for Forensic Medicine, the statement said. Families will be notified at the end of the identification process.
“The families of all hostages have been updated accordingly, and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. Efforts to return our hostages continue and will not stop until the last hostage is returned,” the statement said.
Hamas said in an earlier statement that the remains were found in a tunnel in southern Gaza on Sunday. The Associated Press reported,
The bodies of 11 of the dead hostages were reportedly still in Gaza before they were handed over on Sunday, according to the AP, while Hamas had released 17 hostages since a ceasefire took effect early last month.
Hamas releases one or two bodies every two days threatened a shaky ceasefire, Since Israel has urged the militant group to expedite the recovery of the body. Israel is releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians in exchange for the remains of each hostage, the AP said.
Hamas officials have said that the process of repatriating bodies has been slow due to widespread destruction and lack of access to DNA kits.
