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The handover occurred on Monday, and the Red Cross transported the remains to Israeli troops in Gaza, hours after an Israeli drone struck a locality in the vicinity of Khan Yunis, killing two Palestinians, Al Jazeera reported. Under a ceasefire deal between Hamas and the Tel Aviv regime that began on October 10, Hamas agreed to return the bodies of 28 dead captives, of which 16 have now been delivered. Twenty surviving captives were released on October 13 as part of the same truce. Families of the captives have urged Israel to halt the ceasefire’s next phase until all remains are recovered. Hamas says some remains are difficult to locate due to massive destruction in the war-torn Palestinian territory. There were “challenges” in locating the captives’ bodies because “the occupation has altered the terrain of Gaza,” said Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya on Saturday, stressing that some of those who buried the bodies had been killed during the war, while others had forgotten the burial locations. Israel has now allowed an Egyptian team to assist with recovery efforts using excavators and trucks. In contrast to the Hamas' pledge to remain committed to the ceasefire, Israel has continuously violated it, intermittently striking several locations across the Gaza Strip. Gaza’s Health Ministry said eight Palestinians were killed and 13 wounded in the past 48 hours, raising the total death toll since October 7, 2023 to more than 68,500, while nearly 170,400 others have been injured since the onset of the genocidal war. The United States defended Israel’s latest deadly strike, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio claiming that it targeted an imminent threat from Islamic Jihad and did not violate the ceasefire.
