Hamas said it will hand over a body of a hostage on Wednesday, as Israel said it would allow Gaza’s gateway to Egypt to open in the next few days so that Palestinians who need medical care could leave the war-ravaged territory.
The handover of the last two hostages’ bodies in Gaza would complete a key condition of the initial part of US president Donald Trump’s plan to end the two-year Gaza war, which also entails the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opening in both directions.
Israel has kept the crossing shut since the ceasefire came into effect in October, saying that Hamas must abide by the agreement to return all hostages still in Gaza, living and deceased.
Since the fragile truce started, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and 26 bodies in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and convicted prisoners, but two more deceased captives - an Israeli police officer and a Thai agricultural worker - are still in Gaza.
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The armed wing of the Hamas-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, the Al Quds Brigades, said it had found a hostage body after conducting a search in northern Gaza, along with a team from the Red Cross.
Hamas did not say which of the two remaining deceased hostages it believed it to be.
The two are Israeli police officer Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, both kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered two years of devastating war in Gaza.
Hamas had handed over remains on Tuesday to the Geneva-based Red Cross, which has acted as an intermediary between Gaza militant groups and Israel throughout the war.
Israeli forces said they sent the remains, which they described as “findings” for forensic testing.
“The findings brought yesterday for examination from the Gaza Strip are not linked to any of the deceased hostages,” Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Cogat, the Israeli military arm that oversees humanitarian matters, said the opening of the Rafah crossing would be co-ordinated with Egypt, under the supervision of a European Union mission - a similar mechanism to that employed during a previous Gaza ceasefire agreed in January 2025.
There was currently no co-ordination between Egypt and Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing in the coming days, state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV cited Egypt’s State Information Service as saying.
Before the war, the Rafah crossing was the only direct exit point for most Palestinians in Gaza to reach the outside world and was a key entry point for aid into the territory. It has been mostly closed throughout the conflict.
At least 16,500 patients in Gaza require medical care outside the enclave, according to the United Nations. Some Gazans have managed to leave for medical treatment abroad through Israel.
Violence has tailed off since the October 10th ceasefire but Israel has continued to strike Gaza and conduct demolitions against what it says is Hamas infrastructure. Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violating the US-backed agreement.
Health officials at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza said on Wednesday that two Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.
More than 350 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, Gaza health authorities say. Palestinian militants killed three Israeli soldiers during this time, Israeli authorities said. - Reuters
