CAIRO: Israel said it had received from the Red Cross on Tuesday the remains of a deceased hostage who had been held by Palestinian militants in Gaza, with the bodies of two still to be located more than six weeks into a fragile ceasefire.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not name the deceased former hostage, saying the remains would be handed over to the National Center of Forensic Medicine for identification.
Under the October deal between Hamas and Israel after two years of devastating war, Hamas freed all 20 surviving hostages held in Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees held by Israel.
The pact also stipulated the return of the remains of 28 hostages in exchange for the remains of 360 Palestinian militants.
Meanwhile, Egyptian state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV said on Tuesday that the Cairo government had hosted a follow-up meeting for mediators and guarantors of the ceasefire deal.
It was attended by Egypt’s head of intelligence, the Qatari prime minister and the head of Turkish intelligence, the channel said, without mentioning when the gathering was held.
They discussed joint efforts to implement the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for post-war Gaza and overcome challenges including ceasefire violations to ensure its consolidation, Al-Qahera reported.
A Hamas delegation, led by its exiled chief Khalil Al-Hayya, held talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo over the past two days to explore how to carry out the next steps in Trump’s plan, which would include a transitional governing authority for Gaza and a multinational security force.
Since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, Israel and Hamas have traded blame for deadly truce violations and accused each other of pushing back against later steps required by Trump’s plan.