TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel on Wednesday identified more bodies of dead hostages that were handed over by Hamas a day earlier to ease pressure on a fragile ceasefire in its war with Israel. The handover came after an Israeli military agency warned it would slash aid deliveries to Gaza as the militant group was not returning the remains as agreed.
Three of four bodies handed over on Tuesday night were identified as Israeli hostages but the identity of the fourth remained in question.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded that Hamas fulfill the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal — introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump — about the return of the hostages’ bodies.
“We will not compromise on this and will not stop our efforts until we return the last deceased hostage, until the last one,” he said.
The U.S.-proposed ceasefire plan had called for all hostages — living and dead — to be handed over by a deadline that expired on Monday. But under the deal if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand over all as soon as possible.
On Monday, Israelis celebrated the return of the last 20 living hostages in Gaza and Palestinians rejoiced at Israel’s release of some 2,000 prisoners and detainees as part of the ceasefire’s first phase.
But families of hostages and their supporters expressed dismay that the 28 dead hostages were not all returned. Hamas and the Red Cross have said that recovering the remains of dead hostages was a challenge because of Gaza’s vast destruction, and Hamas told mediators of the deal that some are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.
By Monday night, Hamas had released four bodies, and four more followed late on Tuesday.
Of that second group of four bodies, three were identified, a group that represents many of their families said Wednesday. The Hostages Family Forum, a group representing many of the hostages’ families, said the three were Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi.
Baruch was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Nimrodi, who had been serving with the Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza, was taken by militants from the Erez border crossing. The forum says Levi was kidnapped while driving a friend to Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas attack.
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