Israel prepares to receive remains of possible hostage and to reopen Gaza crossing into Egypt

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Wednesday it was prepared to receive remains from Gaza handed over by militants to the Red Cross and that it will begin allowing Palestinians to leave the war-torn territory through a border crossing with Egypt.

Once the remains are returned to Israel, they will be examined by forensics experts to determine whether they belong to either of the two last hostages in Gaza. Remains militants handed over on Tuesday did not match any of the hostages.

The return of all the hostages taken on the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that started the war is a key element of the first phase of the ceasefire that began last month. In exchange, Israel has been releasing Palestinian prisoners.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, the long-closed Rafah crossing is to be opened for medical evacuations and travel to and from Gaza. The World Health Organization says there are more than 16,500 sick and wounded people who need to leave Gaza for medical care.

It was not immediately clear when the border crossing would be opened, however, because of a dispute Israel is having with Egypt, which wants Palestinians to be able to return to Gaza through the crossing.

Israel says Palestinians will not be able to return to Gaza through the crossing until the last hostage remains are returned from Gaza. Egypt, which controls the other side, said the crossing would open only if movement goes both ways.

Once the last hostages' remains are returned and Israel releases more Palestinian prisoners in exchange, the U.S.-backed ceasefire plan is supposed to advance to the next phases, which call for creating an international stabilization force, forming a technocratic Palestinian government and disarming Hamas.

Planned handover comes after snag

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said forensic testing showed that partial remains returned by militants on Tuesday did not match either of the hostages still in Gaza. Palestinian militants began searching again and said they had found the remains of a hostage in northern Gaza.

The two hostage bodies still in Gaza are Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak. Gvili was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, and was killed fighting at another location. Sudthisak Rinthalak was an agricultural worker from Thailand who had been employed at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities in the attack.

A total of 31 workers from Thailand were abducted, the largest group of foreigners to be held in captivity. Most of them were released in the first and second ceasefires. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said in addition to the hostages, 46 Thais have been killed during the war.

Rafah to open in 'coming days'

The statement about allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza through Rafah came from COGAT, the Israeli military body charged with facilitating aid to Gaza. It said Israel would coordinate with Egypt on the exit of Palestinians, under the supervision of a mission from the European Union.

Those wishing to leave Gaza will require “Israeli security approval," COGAT said.

The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Near-Eastern Affairs, writing on X, cast the opening of the crossing as a measure that would afford “the most vulnerable Gazans” access to medical care outside Gaza.

An Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational plans said all Palestinians who want to exit Gaza will be able to move through Rafah if Egypt agrees to receive them.

Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said the crossing won't be open for Palestinians seeking to return to Gaza until all of the hostages in the territory are returned to Israel.

Egypt’s State Information Service denied the Rafah crossing will be “only for the exit” of Palestinians in Gaza. Citing an unnamed Egyptian official, the service said the crossing, if an agreement is reached, will be for travel in both directions in accordance with the plan advanced by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The crossing was sealed off in May 2024 when Israel’s military invaded the area. It was briefly opened in February this year for the evacuation of sick and wounded Palestinians for treatment, as part of the previous ceasefire deal.

Israel and Lebanon to hold talks

Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel would send an envoy to talks with Lebanese diplomatic and economic officials, marking an “initial attempt to create a basis for relations and economic cooperation” between the two countries. Other participants in the talks are from the U.S., France and the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL.

Israel and Lebanon have been in a state of war since 1948. Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fought a months-long war that ended in a shaky ceasefire one year ago.

For Lebanon, Simon Karam, an attorney and former ambassador to the U.S., will take part in the talks, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said. Israeli media identified its envoy as Uri Resnick, a former diplomat and the national security council’s deputy director for foreign policy.

Palestinian hospital says Israel killed a man in Gaza

A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire on Wednesday in Gaza Strip, a hospital said, marking the latest reported Palestinian fatality in Gaza.

Israeli forces shot the 46-year-old man in Gaza City’s eastern Zeitoun neighborhood, according to the Al-Ahli hospital, which received the body. Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The hospital said the man was shot while in the “safe zone,” which, under the terms of the ceasefire, is not controlled by the Israeli military.

The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 360 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 11. The ministry sets the total Palestinian death toll from the war over 70,100. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians, though it says roughly half of those killed have been women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

Return of Palestinian bodies in flux

Twenty living hostages and the remains of 26 others have been returned to Israel since the ceasefire began in early October.

Israel has been releasing 15 Palestinian bodies for the remains of each hostage as part of the ceasefire agreement. The Gaza Health Ministry said the total number of remains received so far is 330. Health officials in Gaza have said they have only been able to identify a fraction of the bodies handed over by Israel, and the process is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits.

The exchanges have gone ahead even as Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating other terms of the deal. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of handing over partial remains in some instances and staging the discovery of bodies in others.