The remains of three people handed to the Red Cross by Hamas in Gaza do not belong to any of the Israeli hostages, Israel said on Saturday, calling it another setback to the US-mediated ceasefire with Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the three sets of remains “did not belong to any of the hostages.” It was not clear whose remains they were.
The handover came after Israel returned the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza on Friday, completing an exchange that followed Hamas’ earlier transfer of two Israeli hostages’ remains.
Hamas’ armed wing said it had offered Israel samples from unidentified bodies for testing, but Israel had refused and demanded full remains for examination. “We handed the bodies over to stop the claims of Israel,” Hamas said in a statement. Health officials in Gaza said they were struggling to identify bodies due to a lack of DNA kits.
Ceasefire under strain
Since the truce began on October 10, militants have released the remains of 17 Israeli hostages, while 11 are believed to remain in Gaza. Israel has been exchanging 15 Palestinian remains for each Israeli body, according to Reuters.
Israel says the process is slow and has called for faster handovers. Hamas has said the work is complicated by the destruction across Gaza and the presence of Israeli forces.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Israel has returned 225 Palestinian bodies since the ceasefire began, but only 75 have been identified. It remains unclear whether those returned were killed in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, died in Israeli custody, or were recovered by Israeli troops during the war.
The ceasefire faced its biggest challenge this week when Israeli air strikes across Gaza killed more than 100 people, after an Israeli soldier was killed in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city.
‘Israel cannot stay in Gaza and expect security’
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned on Saturday that Israel’s continued military presence in Gaza threatened the fragile ceasefire.
“With Israel staying in Gaza, I think security is going to be a challenge,” Safadi told the Manama Dialogue security summit in Bahrain. “Israel cannot stay in 53% of Gaza and then expect security to be achieved.”
Safadi said a Palestinian police force should handle security, supported by an international stabilisation mission approved by the UN Security Council.
The 20-point US peace plan calls for a temporary international force involving Arab and other partners to help secure Gaza’s borders with Egypt and Israel. Washington has ruled out deploying American troops.
Indonesia says willing to send troops
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, said it was ready to send thousands of peacekeepers to Gaza.
“But details, or the term of reference for that matter, remain unclear,” Foreign Minister Sugiono said earlier this week. “There has to be a mandate from the UN Security Council, which we hope will be issued,” Sugiono added.
He added that while Indonesia supports a future Palestinian state, it also recognises “the need to guarantee Israel’s safety and security.”
