Israel says latest Gaza remains not hostages

Israel said yesterday that three bodies it received from Gaza the night before were not hostages held in the Palestinian territory, as a Hamas security source reported fresh strikes in the south. Despite occasional flare-ups, a fragile truce has been holding in Gaza since October 10, based on a US-brokered deal centred on the return of all Israeli hostages, both living and dead. Israel's military told AFP that a forensic analysis revealed that three bodies it received via the Red Cross on Friday were not those of any of the deceased captives still to be handed over as part of the ceasefire deal. Hamas's armed wing said Saturday that it had handed over bodies it had not positively identified, alleging Israel had declined its offer to provide samples for testing and "demanded the bodies for examination".

"We handed them over to preempt any enemy claims," the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said. After the start of the truce, Hamas returned the 20 surviving hostages still in its custody and began the process of returning the remains of the dead. Of the 17 bodies returned since the start of the ceasefire, 15 were Israelis, one was Thai and one was Nepalese. Hamas has also returned another unidentified body that had not been listed among the 28 missing, as well as the partial remains of a deceased Israeli hostage who had already been recovered early in the war.

That incident drew outrage in Israel, which said the group had violated the agreement by returning the partial remains rather than the body of another hostage. Israel has accused Hamas of not returning the dead hostages quickly enough, but the Palestinian group says it will take time to locate remains buried in Gaza's ruins. In its statement Saturday, the Al-Qassam Brigades called on mediators and the Red Cross to provide the "necessary equipment and personnel to work on recovering all the bodies simultaneously".

 Hamas and Israel, meanwhile, have traded accusations of breaking the ceasefire. A Hamas security source told AFP on Saturday that Israel had carried out several air strikes in the south at dawn, and that "warships opened fire toward the shores of Khan Yunis".