One in all the 4 bodies handed over by Hamas, as a part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, just isn’t of a hostage held within the Gaza Strip, Israel claimed.
By Monday night, the armed resistance group had released the stays of 4 captives, and 4 more followed late last night – but only three have up to now been identified.
The Israeli military said that ‘following the completion of examinations on the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas doesn’t match any of the hostages.’
Hamas and the Red Cross have said that recovering the stays of dead hostages was a challenge due to Gaza’s vast destruction.
A few of the stays are understood to be in areas still controlled by Israeli forces.
Christian Cardon, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross, stressed that returning all of the bodies could take days or perhaps weeks – and there was a possibility some may never be discovered.
He warned: ‘That’s a good larger challenge than having the people alive being released. That’s an enormous challenge.’
Meanwhile, Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the discharge of hostages and the missing, confirmed that a world task force will work to search out the deceased hostages who are usually not returned inside 72 hours.
Based on the the Hostages Family Forum, the three identified were Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi.
The handover got here after Israel warned that it could slash aid deliveries to Gaza, but an Israeli security official said that preparations were underway to open Rafah to 600 aid trucks.
The dispute over the return of bodies has the potential to derail the already fragile ceasefire deal together with other major issues yet to be resolved.
What number of deceased still remain in Gaza and Israel?
Before Monday’s releases, 48 hostages were still being held in Gaza – 20 of them alive and 28 deceased.
Honouring the ceasefire deal, Hamas handed back all 20 surviving, and is now regularly handing over the stays of the dead.
4 bodies were returned on Monday. They were later identified as Guy Illouz, Bipin Joshi, Yossi Sharabi and Daniel Peretz.
One other more were handed over late last night, but up to now only three have been identified.
This implies seven of the bodies are confirmed to have been sent back to Israel, while 21 remain in Gaza.
The ceasefire deal also requires that Israel returns the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants killed in battle.
The primary group of 45 was handed over on Tuesday and were being identified, said Palestinian health authorities.
Got a story? Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you possibly can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the newest news updates. You may now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Join for our each day push alerts here.
MORE: Skincare fans can rating 3-for-2 on Emma Hardie gift sets just in time for Christmas
MORE: Sam Thompson’s recent girlfriend with reality TV connections revealed
MORE: These £7 hand sanitiser sprays are giving major Touchland energy (and we’re obsessed)