The Israeli military said the International Committee of the Red Cross received the remains, which were to be transferred to Israeli forces in Gaza.
The Red Cross received the remains of two more Hamas hostages on Wednesday, hours after the Israeli military said that one of the bodies previously turned over was not that of a hostage. The confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.
The Israeli military said the International Committee of the Red Cross received the remains, which were to be transferred to Israeli forces in Gaza.
Earlier Wednesday, military officials said one of the bodies previously handed over by Hamas was not that of a hostage who was held in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in implementation of the ceasefire agreement. That brings to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains said they showed signs of mistreatment.
As part of the deal, four bodies of hostages were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday, following four on Monday that were returned hours after the last 20 living hostages were released from Gaza. In all, Israel has been awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.
The Israeli military said forensic testing showed that “the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages.” There was no immediate word on whose body it was.
In exchange for the release of the hostages, Israel freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees Monday.Unidentified bodies returned to Gaza show signs of abuse
Israel is expected to turn over more bodies, though officials have not said how many are in its custody or how many will be returned. It is unclear whether the remains belong to Palestinians who died in Israeli custody or were taken from Gaza by Israeli troops. Throughout the war, Israel’s military has exhumed bodies as part of its search for the remains of hostages.
As forensic teams examined the first remains returned, the Health Ministry on Wednesday released images of 32 unidentified bodies to help families recognize missing relatives.
