DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel on Tuesday said it received human remains turned over by Palestinian militants and forensic experts were trying to determine if they belonged to one of the three remaining hostages held in Gaza.
The handover was the latest under a fragile ceasefire that began in October and has held despite accusations by both sides of violations.
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said it found the remains earlier this week in Nuseirat, a refugee camp in central Gaza.
The ceasefire requires Hamas to release all hostages, and Palestinian militants have returned 25 hostage bodies so far. The remaining hostages are two Israelis and a man from Thailand. In return, Israel has released the bodies of 330 Palestinians to Gaza. Most remain unidentified.
Israel has accused Hamas of stalling and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned. Hamas says it has not been able to reach all the remains of hostages because they are buried under rubble from Israel’s two-year offensive.
Netanyahu’s office asserted that the delay amounted to a ceasefire violation.
A rising death toll in Gaza
While daily fighting has stopped, the death toll has gone up as Israel strikes parts of Gaza in response to what it says are ceasefire violations by Hamas.
Gaza’s health ministry on Tuesday said Israeli forces killed three people east of Khan Younis in the south. It said the bodies were brought to hospitals along with 14 others recovered from the rubble over the past 24 hours. Those brought the death toll to 345 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect, the ministry said.
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