A forensic analysis determined that the three bodies that arrived in Israeli territory on Friday via the Red Cross do not belong to any of the 11 deceased hostages still in Gaza, according to a report from the prime minister's office. The Israeli Defense Forces stated on Saturday that the three bodies handed over to Israel from the Gaza Strip on Friday through the International Committee of the Red Cross, 'do not correspond to those of any hostage captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023'. Israel had been notified in advance that Hamas was unsure of the identity of the remains, according to sources close to the operation. The Palestinian Islamist movement, considered a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, has so far returned the mortal remains of 17 of the 28 deceased hostages it agreed to hand over as part of a ceasefire agreement negotiated by Washington. Therefore, the latest Israeli hostage bodies returned by Hamas 'are those handed over on Thursday and identified as those of 84-year-old Amiram Cooper and 25-year-old Sahar Baruch,' the prime minister's office reported in a statement. As part of the ceasefire, Hamas released the 20 remaining hostages alive in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners. In turn, Israel has returned to the Strip, also with the mediation of the Red Cross, 225 bodies of Gazans. Hamas, which has denied firing at Israeli soldiers, accused its counterpart of violating the ceasefire. According to images released by the Ministry of Health and denunciations from medical sources and Hamas, many of these bodies showed 'signs of abuse and torture or were charred'. The successive delays by Hamas in handing over the bodies caused the anger of the Israeli government, which accused the group of violating the ceasefire agreement. Since the start of the truce on October 10, Israel has bombed Gaza twice in retaliation for firefights that killed three of its soldiers. The October 19 airstrikes caused at least 45 deaths in Gaza, according to Palestinian sources, and 'the Tuesday bombings left 104 dead', according to the same sources. Among them are the remains of 15 Israelis, a Thai, and a Nepali. The analysis carried out by the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv determined that the bodies did not belong to any Israeli hostage.
Quote: 'The Israeli Defense Forces stated on Saturday that the three bodies handed over to Israel from the Gaza Strip on Friday through the International Committee of the Red Cross, 'do not correspond to those of any hostage captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023'.'
