Israel announced on Monday that it had received the remains of another hostage, handed over as part of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, LETA reported citing AFP.
"Israel, through the mediation of the Red Cross, received a coffin with the body of a missing hostage, which was handed over to the Israel Defense Forces and the internal security service 'Shabak' in the Gaza Strip," the statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The Israeli Army and 'Shabak' later confirmed that the remains had been delivered to Israel and sent to the National Forensic Medicine Institute, where the identification procedure will take place.
A senior Hamas official told AFP that the armed wing of the group handed over the remains of the hostage to the Red Cross after receiving them from the armed wing of the 'Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine' — 'Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades'.
"In fulfilling our national duty, we (...) declare that we are handing over the body of one Zionist soldier in accordance with the terms of the agreement," the statement from the 'Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades' said.
Before handing over these remains, Hamas had already returned the bodies of 12 hostages to Israel. Under the terms of the truce, Hamas committed to hand over a total of 28 hostages' bodies to Israel.
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