Israel accuses Hamas of returning wrong body

One of the bodies returned by Hamas on Tuesday does not belong to any of the hostages that were being held by the Palestinian armed group in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said.

Hamas freed the last 20 remaining living Israeli hostages on Monday in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, as part of a deal brokered by the US, Qatar, Egypt, and Türkiye. On Tuesday, the group began delivering the corpses of dead captives to Israel, returning seven bodies in two batches via the Red Cross.

However, the IDF said in a statement on X on Wednesday that an examination at the Abu Kabir forensic institute had revealed that one of the four bodies from the second batch “does not belong to any of the hostages.” The remains are believed to be of a Palestinian, it added.

The other three bodies were confirmed as belonging to the captives. They were identified as Staff Sergeant Tamir Nimrodi, 18, Uriel Baruch, 35, and Eitan Levy, 53, the statement read.

“Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages,” the Israeli military insisted.

IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said earlier in the day that Israel “will not rest until we return all [of the hostages]. This is our moral, national, and Jewish duty.” Hamas still holds the bodies of 21 deceased captives.

Some 1,200 people were killed and 250 others taken hostage during the Hamas incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023. The IDF’s retaliatory airstrikes and ground offensive in Gaza have claimed more than 67,000 lives and left almost 170,000 wounded, according to the Palestinian health authorities.

Palestinian refugees and Hamas fighters have been returning to Gaza City and other areas of the enclave this week after the partial withdrawal of IDF forces in line with the deal. Sporadic skirmishes between Hamas and rival factions have been reported in Gaza.

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