there are still 19 bodies unlocated

The Israeli Army confirmed in the early hours of this Saturday that the corps a new hostage delivered by the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza is already in Israeli territory, where it will be identified.

“The coffin of the deceased hostage, escorted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), crossed the border and entered the State of Israel recently and is on its way to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, where identification processes will be carried out“said the Army in a statement.

The Prime Minister’s Press Office, Benjamin Netanyahualso confirmed the transfer of the body and recalled that “the effort to return the hostages is still in process and will not end until the last one returns” to Israel.

Hamas has so far handed over nine hostage bodies, not counting tonight’s. The rest, 19, have not yet been located, something that the Israeli authorities were already aware of.

Hamas announced on Friday that it was handing over an exhumed body that same night through the Red Cross, which transferred it to the IDF inside the Strip and then transported it to Israel.

The handover of the Israeli hostages who died in Gaza is one of the points of tension in the peace agreement between the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian group, since Hamas argues that it is not able to recover all the captives whose bodies have been buried in the rubble after two years of Israeli offensive on the Strip.

The IDF recalled in its statement that “Hamas has the obligation to comply with the agreement and take the necessary steps for the return of all hostages.”

For its part, the Gaza Civil Defense service denounced the “double standard” when rescuing the bodies of the victims in the enclave and assured that heavy machinery is being allowed to enter Gaza to extract the bodies of the hostages. but not to recover the around 10,000 bodies of Palestinians scattered beneath the ruins of the Strip.

To find all the hostages who are not located, in the negotiations of the ceasefire agreement it was already established that an international force would work in Gaza to contribute to the search for the bodies not located.