The slow return of hostages’ bodies is posing a challenge to implementing the next stages of the ceasefire, which will address even knottier issues, such as the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force in Gaza and deciding who will govern the territory.
Hamas has said it is struggling to locate the bodies amid the vast destruction in Gaza, while Israel has accused the militant group of purposely delaying their return. Over the weekend, Egypt deployed a team of experts and heavy equipment to help search for bodies. That work continued on Tuesday in Khan Younis and Nuseirat.
Palestinians watch as Egyptian machinery and workers search for the bodies of hostages in Hamad City.Credit: AP
This is the second time since the ceasefire began that human remains turned over by Hamas have been problematic. Israel said one of the bodies Hamas released in the first week of the ceasefire belonged to an unidentified Palestinian.
During a previous ceasefire in February 2025, Hamas said it handed over the bodies of three hostages, Shiri Bibas and her two sons, but testing showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Shiri Bibas’ body was returned a day later.
A stricken family
The remains returned overnight have been identified as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, Netanyahu’s office said.
An undated photo showing Ofir Tzarfati, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023 and whose body was recovered by Israeli troops in November 2023.Credit: AP
Tzarfati was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led attack on Israel that started the war. In all, some 1200 people were killed that day, mostly civilians, and 251 were taken hostage.
Tzarfati was killed in captivity, and Israeli troops retrieved his body in November 2023. In March 2024, his family received additional remains for burial.
Tzarfati’s family said in a statement that this is the third time “we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son”.
In exchange for 15 dead hostages returned from Gaza since the ceasefire began, Israel has handed back to Gaza 195 Palestinian bodies. The last 20 living hostages were returned to Israel at the start of the ceasefire, and in exchange, Israel freed roughly 2000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel kills three Palestinians in the West Bank
In another development, Israeli authorities said they had killed three Palestinian militants during an operation in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli police said the three men were shot as they came out of a cave near Jenin, a town in the northern West Bank known as a militant stronghold. The Israeli military said in a statement that the militants “took part in terror activity in Jenin,” but gave no further details.
Two militants were shot and killed in the initial volley of gunfire. The third, who was wounded, was killed shortly after, according to the Israeli military.
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An earlier statement said the Israeli military carried out an airstrike shortly afterwards to destroy the cave. The army confirmed an airstrike in the area but gave no further details.
Hamas condemned the Jenin strike and later identified two of the three men as militants with Hamas’ Qassam Brigades. The third man was referred to as a “comrade,” but no additional details about him were given.
Israel says its operations have cracked down on militants in the West Bank. But Palestinians and human rights groups say scores of uninvolved civilians have also been among the dead, while tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes.
Over 68,500 Palestinians have died in the two-year war in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.
AP
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