The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad handed over the body of another deceased hostage on Friday, November 7, as part of the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

First modification: 11/07/2025 - 21:57

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported this Friday that a coffin containing the remains of a hostage was delivered to Israeli security forces in Gaza through the Red Cross and would be taken to Israel for identification.

Hour earlier, Hamas's armed wing had announced that it would hand over the remains of another hostage on Friday, as required by the ceasefire agreement with Israel brokered by the United States.

Islamic Jihad is an armed group allied with Hamas that also took hostages during the October 7, 2023 attack, an offensive that sparked the Gaza war.

In a statement broadcast on Telegram, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades previously stated that, together with the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, they would "hand over the body of one of the prisoners of the occupation, found today (Friday) in the city of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, at 9:00 p.m. Gaza time (19:00 GMT)."

At the beginning of the truce, which took effect on October 10, Hamas was holding 48 hostages in Gaza: 20 alive and 28 dead. Militants have since freed all surviving captives. And, of the 28 hostages who died, 22 bodies have been handed over so far, including 19 Israelis, a Thai citizen, a Nepali and a Tanzanian.

Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages in the 2023 attack and killed another 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli counts.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 69,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, health officials in Gaza reported.

Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the return of the bodies of the deceased hostages, while the Palestinian group says the process is slow because many are buried under the rubble of Gaza.

The group has repeatedly asked mediators and the Red Cross to provide it with the equipment and personnel necessary to recover the bodies.

With AFP

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