Israel has handed over the bodies of 30 more Palestinians to Gaza as part of an ongoing exchange deal under a United States–brokered ceasefire plan, hospital officials confirmed on Friday.
The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis told AFP that it had received the bodies “from the Israeli side as part of the exchange deal.” Under the truce terms, Israel is to return the remains of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli hostage returned by Hamas. Friday’s transfer brings the total number of Palestinian bodies repatriated to 225.
The Red Cross transported the bodies to the hospital after they were handed over by Israeli authorities, following the same procedure used in previous exchanges, the hospital said.
According to the October 10 ceasefire plan, Hamas has so far released 20 surviving hostages captured during its October 7, 2023 assault on Israel. It has also begun returning the bodies of 28 deceased hostages, though the process has been slow, fuelling growing frustration among Israelis.
So far, Hamas has returned 15 Israeli bodies and the remains of two foreign workers — one Thai and one Nepalese — who were also seized in the 2023 attack. The group has additionally handed over the partial remains of a previously recovered Israeli hostage and one unidentified body not listed among the missing.
Officials say that 10 bodies of hostages from the October 7 assault are still believed to be in Gaza, along with one other missing since 2014. All are Israeli nationals except for one Tanzanian and one Thai citizen.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire terms, while families of hostages have called for stronger measures to ensure the group’s compliance.
Hamas maintains that it remains committed to the truce but claims that extensive Israeli bombardments over the past two years have made it difficult to locate the remaining bodies, as many landmarks have been destroyed. Egyptian recovery teams, using heavy machinery, have joined the search efforts to recover the missing remains.