Hamas hands over remains of another Israeli hostage under ceasefire deal

The Palestinian group Hamas returned on Sunday the remains of another Israeli hostage under a Gaza ceasefire agreement, the army said.

An Israeli military statement said army forces received the body from the Red Cross teams in southern Gaza.

The army confirmed that the remains belonged to soldier Hadar Goldin after identification at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv.

Hamas said early Sunday that it would hand over the remains of Goldin, who was captured by Palestinian fighters in 2014 during an Israeli war in Gaza.

Hamas has already released 20 Israeli captives alive and handed over the remains of 26 out of 28, most of them Israelis, since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel, however, claimed that one of the received bodies did not match any of its listed captives.

Phase one of the ceasefire deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Since October 2023, the Israeli genocidal war has killed more than 69,000 people and injured more than 170,600, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.