Trending 
Israel has handed over the remains of 30 additional Palestinians to Gaza as part of a continuing exchange arrangement based on a ceasefire plan facilitated by the US, according to a hospital report to AFP on Friday.
The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis said that “the remains of 30 Palestinian prisoners were received from the Israeli side as part of the exchange agreement.”
According to the truce, Israel is set to return the remains of 15 Palestinians for each deceased Israeli hostage that Hamas returns. This latest transfer increases the total returned to Gaza to 225.
The bodies were transported to Nasser by the Red Cross after being provided by Israel; similar to previous exchanges, the hospital stated.
As per the ceasefire plan established on October 10, Hamas has already released 20 surviving hostages who were taken during its assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas has begun to return the remains of 28 deceased hostages who were known to be missing, but the process has been slow, leading to increasing frustration within Israel.
Hamas returned 15 bodies identified as Israeli hostages, along with those of two foreign workers—one from Thailand and the other from Nepal—who were also captured in the October 7 assault.
Additionally, it has sent back the partial remains of a deceased Israeli hostage that had already been recovered, as well as an unidentified body not included in the list of the 28 missing.
Currently, there are 10 bodies of hostages from October 7 believed to still be in Gaza, along with one more that has been missing since 2014. All are Israeli except for one Tanzanian and one Thai.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of violating the terms of the truce, and families of the hostages are urging firmer measures to compel the Palestinian group to comply.
Hamas claims that it remains committed to the ceasefire agreement but is encountering difficulties locating the remaining bodies due to two years of Israeli bombardments that have obliterated familiar landmarks in Gaza.
Egyptian recovery teams equipped with heavy machinery have joined the efforts to search for the bodies.
