Israel returns the bodies of 15 more Palestinians; receives remains of hostage

On Saturday, Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza, raising the total number handed over to 135, according to the Ministry of Health run by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The ceasefire agreement, brokered with a leading role by U.S. President Donald Trump, stipulates that Israel will return the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every Israeli body it receives.

On Friday evening, Hamas handed over the body of an additional Israeli hostage.

Since the start of the ceasefire, Hamas has returned the bodies of nine Israelis and a Nepali student.

The Gaza Ministry of Health stated that some of the bodies returned on Saturday "show signs of torture, beating, hands tied, and eyes blindfolded."

The ministry had reported similar signs on bodies previously returned under the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military responded by calling these accusations "false propaganda from Hamas."

In a statement to AFP on Friday, the Israeli military added: "Moreover, all the bodies returned so far are fighters from the Gaza Strip."

On Saturday, Israeli authorities announced they had identified the remains of a hostage handed over by Hamas on Friday, who must return 18 more Israeli bodies under the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military stated in a press release that it "informed the family of the hostage Eliyahu Margalit that his body has been returned to Israel and his identity verified."

Margalit was 75 years old when he was killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz during a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and his body was transferred to the Gaza Strip.

ANHA