Sawt Falasteen - Israel says Gaza hostage coffin received from Red Cross

Prior to this latest handover, the remains of three deceased hostages were still being held in the Gaza Strip -- two Israelis and one Thai national.

Hamas and its allies have been handing over the remains of hostages as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel that came into force early last month.

"Israel has received, via the Red Cross, the coffin of a fallen hostage," handed over to the Israeli military and security services inside the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

"From there, it will be transferred to Israel, where it will be received in a military ceremony.

"It will then be transferred to the Health Ministry National Centre of Forensic Medicine. Upon completion of the identification process, formal notification will be delivered to the family.

"The families of the fallen hostages have been updated accordingly, and our hearts are with them in this difficult hour.

"The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned."

The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had "facilitated the transfer of one deceased to Israeli authorities, acting as a neutral intermediary".

"This was done at the request of the parties, and with their agreement," the ICRC said, adding that it was not involved in the recovery of the deceased.

- Fragile truce -

A source in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, who requested anonymity, confirmed the remains belonged to one of the last three hostages held by militants in the territory.

Islamic Jihad's armed wing said it had located the body of a hostage on Monday during search operations in the central Gaza Strip.

At the start of the ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10, militants were holding 20 living hostages and 28 bodies of deceased captives.

All the living hostages have since been released, while Israel awaits the remains of the last dead hostages.

In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of dead Palestinians.

Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of repeatedly violating the terms of the ceasefire.

Israel said earlier that the delay in handing over the remains since they were found on Monday was a "violation" of the truce.

"Israel views with severity the delay in their immediate transfer," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

"This constitutes a further violation of the agreement," it added.

The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people.

Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 69,775 people, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST