Israel receives body Hamas says is Gaza hostage

Hamas has handed over a body that it says is a hostage, the Israeli military has said.

The body was transported by the Red Cross to Israeli forces in Gaza, and will now be returned to Israel for formal identification.

Before Monday, Hamas had handed over all 20 living hostages and 12 out of 28 deceased hostages under the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire deal that began on 10 October.

Israel has freed 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza, and returned 15 bodies of Palestinians in return for every Israeli hostage’s remains.

The first phase of the deal has also seen an increase of aid into the Gaza Strip, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a halt in fighting – though deadly violence flared up on Sunday as both sides accused one another of breaching the deal.

Israel said it struck dozens of Hamas targets across the Strip after accusing Hamas of an attack that killed two of its soldiers in Rafah. Hamas had said it was “unaware” of any clashes in the area, which is under Israeli control.

At least 45 Palestinians were killed in the strikes, local hospitals said.

On Sunday evening, Israel said it was resuming enforcement of the ceasefire, adding that it would “respond firmly to any violation of it”. Hamas had earlier said it remained committed to the agreement.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.

At least 68,216 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.