Israelis are identifying the second group of bodies handed over by Hamas as tenuous truce holds
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel on Wednesday identified more bodies of deceased hostages that were handed over by Hamas a day earlier to ease pressure on a fragile ceasefire in its war with Israel. The handover came after an Israeli military agency warned it would slash aid deliveries to Gaza as the militant group was not returning the remains as agreed.
Three of four bodies handed over on Tuesday night were identified as Israeli hostages but the identity of the fourth remained in question.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded that Hamas fulfill the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal — introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump — about the return of the hostages' bodies.
“We will not compromise on this and will not stop our efforts until we return the last deceased hostage, until the last one,” he said.
The U.S.-proposed ceasefire plan had called for all hostages — living and dead — to be handed over by a deadline that expired on Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand over all as soon as possible.
Hazem Kassem, a spokesperson for Hamas, said on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday that the group was working to return the bodies of the hostages as agreed in the ceasefire deal. He accused Israel of violating the deal with shootings Tuesday in eastern Gaza City and the territory's southern city of Rafah.
Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said Wednesday the military is operating along the deployment lines laid out in the deal and warned that anyone approaching the deployment line will be targeted — as had happened on Tuesday with several militants.
Two hostages whose bodies were released from Gaza were to buried on Wednesday. The family invited the public to gather along the road Wednesday afternoon to accompany the body of one hostage as it was taken from a forensics institute to a cemetery north of Tel Aviv.
In the past, tens of thousands of Israelis have lined the streets to show respect to bodies of hostages on their way for burial, standing silently with Israeli flags.
On Monday, Israelis celebrated the return of the last 20 living hostages in Gaza and Palestinians rejoiced at Israel’s release of some 2,000 prisoners and detainees as part of the ceasefire’s first phase.
Families of hostages and their supporters have expressed dismay these past days that so few of the 28 dead hostages were being released. Hamas and the Red Cross have said that recovering the remains of dead hostages was a challenge because of Gaza’s vast destruction, and Hamas told mediators of the truce that some are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.
By Monday night, Hamas had released four bodies, and four more followed late on Tuesday.
Of that second group of four bodies, three were identified, a group that represents many of their families said Wednesday. The Hostages Family Forum, a group representing many of the hostages' families, said the three were Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi.
Baruch was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Nimrodi, who had been serving with the Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza, was taken by militants from the Erez border crossing. The forum says Levi was kidnapped while driving a friend to Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas attack.
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Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
