UPDATES WITH LATEST STATEMENT FROM ISRAELI ARMY; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE
By Mohammad Sio
ISTANBUL (AA) - The Israeli army on Tuesday evening said that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) received the remains of four Israeli hostages in Gaza and is transferring them to Israeli forces.
“According to information provided by the Red Cross, four coffins of deceased hostages have been transferred into their custody and are on their way to IDF (army) and ISA (security agency) forces in the Gaza Strip,” the army said in a statement.
Earlier, the army said that the ICRC was on its way to a designated location in the northern Gaza Strip to receive the bodies of several Israeli hostages.
There has been no official confirmation yet from Hamas in this regard.
The Palestinian group handed over the remains of four Israeli captives on Monday under a Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Hamas released 20 living Israeli hostages early Monday in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Last week, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first phase of a plan he laid out Sept. 29 to bring a ceasefire to Gaza, release all Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip. The first phase of the deal came into force on Friday.
Phase two of the plan calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a multinational force, and the disarmament of Hamas.