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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip -- Israel handed over the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Monday, the Red Cross said, a day after militants returned the remains of three hostages. Israeli officials identified the three as soldiers who were killed in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza. Since the U.S.-brokered truce took effect Oct. 10, Palestinian militants have released the remains of 20 hostages, with eight now remaining in Gaza. For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians. With Monday's return, the bodies of 270 Palestinians have been handed back since the start of the ceasefire. The Red Cross said it had facilitated the transfer of 45 Palestinian bodies to Gaza on Monday morning. Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesperson at the Gaza Health Ministry, told The Associated Press that Nasser Hospital received the bodies around noon. Only 78 of the bodies returned so far have been identified, the ministry said. Forensic work is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits in Gaza, it added. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office identified the three hostages, whose bodies were returned to Israel on Sunday night, as Capt. Omer Neutra, an American-Israeli; Staff Sgt. Oz Daniel; and Col. Assaf Hamami. A Hamas statement earlier said their remains were found Sunday in a tunnel in southern Gaza. Neutra was 21 when Hamas militants abducted his tank crew during the 2023 attack. In December 2024, the military announced that he had been killed in the attack. Daniel, 19, was part of the tank crew and was taken into Gaza. Hamami, commander of Israel's southern brigade in the Gaza division, was killed during the 2023 attack while fighting to defend Kibbutz Nirim and his body was taken into the Palestinian territory. Two Palestinians, one of them a teenager, were killed by Israeli gunfire Sunday night in separate incidents in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah. Jamil Hanani, 17, was killed in the town of Beit Furik, the ministry said Monday. Israel's military said soldiers opened fire at Palestinians hurling rocks, hitting one person. Hanani's death extends a surge in military killings of Palestinian youths in the West Bank during an upswing in violence since the start of the war. Also Sunday, Ahmed Al-Atrash, 32, was fatally shot by an Israeli settler at an entrance to the city of Hebron, the ministry said. Israel's military referred the AP to the police, who did not immediately comment. Hundreds of hard-line settlers live in fortified enclaves under military protection in the city of more than 200,000 Palestinians. The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel two years ago killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel's military offensive has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts. Information for this article was contributed by Renata Brito, Melanie Lidman, Natalie Melzer, Jill Lawless and Aamer Madhani of The Associated Press.
