Gaza’s Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis said Friday that it received the bodies of 15 Palestinians as part of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
In a statement, the hospital said: “Fifteen bodies of Palestinian martyrs have arrived at Nasser Medical Complex as part of the thirteenth batch of the body exchange deal, bringing the total number of bodies received to 330 martyrs.”
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel is to return the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli handed over.
Israel confirmed overnight that militants had returned the remains of Israeli hostage Meny Godard, who was killed at age 73 on the day of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli military informed Godard’s family that “their loved one has been returned to Israel and that his identification has been completed,” according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
At the start of the truce, which came into effect on October 10, Hamas was holding 20 living hostages and 28 bodies of deceased captives. Since then, the group has released all living hostages and returned the remains of 25 deceased captives, in line with the ceasefire agreement.
In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and returned the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians who had died.
Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the return of deceased hostages, while the Palestinian group says the process is slow because many bodies remain buried beneath Gaza’s rubble after two years of conflict.
