Israel said it will reopen the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt and allow humanitarian aid into the enclave after Hamas returned the bodies of four Israeli hostages, public broadcaster Kan reported on Wednesday.
The bodies were handed over late on Tuesday through the International Committee of the Red Cross. Kan said the government decided to cancel an earlier plan to halve the number of aid trucks entering Gaza after delays in returning the remains.
The crossing had been closed for several days. Israel had threatened to block aid shipments if Hamas failed to return the bodies of hostages as promised under the truce agreement.
Around 600 trucks a day are now expected to cross at Rafah, carrying goods from the United Nations, approved international organisations, private firms and donor countries.
Families confirm identities
Families confirmed on Wednesday that three of the four victims had been identified by Israel’s national forensic institute. The identity of the fourth remained unconfirmed.
The Israeli military said that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners was not a former hostage.
After overnight forensic tests on the four bodies returned on Tuesday, the army said medical officials concluded that one “does not match any of the hostages”.
In a statement, the military warned that “Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages”.
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Relatives of those identified expressed their grief publicly.
“It is with immense sadness and immense pain that we announce the return of the body of our beloved Ouriel Baruch from the Gaza Strip, after two long years of prayers, hope and faith,” the family said in a statement posted online.
Baruch, 35, from Jerusalem, was abducted at the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023.
The families of Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levy said their bodies had also been returned. Nimrodi, 18, was a soldier captured at a base near Gaza. Levy, a 53-year-old taxi driver, was killed after dropping off a friend at Kibbutz Beeri that morning.
Four additional bodies were expected to be handed over later on Wednesday, RFI’s Jerusalem correspondent Frédérique Misslin reported. Around 20 deceased hostages have yet to be returned.
Four bodies were returned on Monday, making Tuesday’s handover the second batch this week.
Hamas has said it is struggling to locate all of the remains, while Israel continues to press the group to meet its commitments under the truce. Funerals for the returned victims were scheduled during the day.
Vital aid needs
Jonathan Crickx, communications director for Unicef Palestine, said that allowing 600 trucks a day is vital for civilians.
“Before the war, there were about 500 trucks entering the Gaza Strip. What we saw during the ceasefire in January was a situation where 600 trucks were entering every day," he told RFI.
"At that time, we were able to see that food prices in the markets returned to normal and we could distribute basic necessities."
Israeli daily Haaretz reported that negotiations on the next phase of a peace agreement have resumed.
