DEIR BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel said Tuesday it had received “findings” from Palestinian militants in Gaza that were handed over to the Red Cross. The hostages are believed to be the remains of one of two hostages still in the territory: an Israeli and a Thai.
The Israeli government said they would be taken for forensic testing. Palestinian media said they were found in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya. Israeli officials did not immediately say what they meant by the term “findings.”
The remains of 26 hostages have been returned since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that sparked the war started in a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on Oct. 10.
Palestinians killed in Gaza
Israeli artillery fire in Gaza killed two Palestinians on Tuesday.
An Israeli drone strike killed a videographer in the south, officials at Al-Nasser Hospital, which received the body, said.
Mohd Wadi was killed in Khan Younis, the hospital said. Vardy owned a drone photography company and used to specialize in photographing weddings and other occasions. Most recently, it released footage of destruction in Gaza.
A man was shot dead on Tuesday near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the two deaths but said the killings usually occurred in response to militants approaching or opening fire on Israeli troops.
Gaza’s health ministry said more than 350 Palestinians have been killed in the area since the ceasefire. Hamas and Israel have both accused each other of violating the terms of the truce.
The first Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in 2023 killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage. Nearly all the hostages or remains have been returned through ceasefires or other agreements.
Gaza’s health ministry said the Palestinian death toll has exceeded 70,100. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. It is staffed by medical professionals and keeps detailed records that are generally considered reliable by the international community.
Violence in the West Bank
The Israeli military also advanced operations in the occupied West Bank, shooting dead two Palestinians on Tuesday accused of attacking soldiers.
The military said troops shot and killed a suspect who stabbed two soldiers and caused minor injuries during a confrontation near an Israeli settlement in the central West Bank. The incident is said to be under review. In the southern West Bank, the military said a Palestinian soldier was shot and killed after he launched a car-ramming attack that wounded a soldier. The military said the man tried to escape during an attempt to arrest him.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the suspects as an 18-year-old man from northern Ramallah and a 17-year-old resident of Hebron.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the Israeli military has stepped up its activities in the West Bank. Israel said the offensive was aimed at rooting out the militants. Palestinians said dozens of stone throwers, protesters and uninvolved civilians were killed.
In recent weeks, Israeli settlers have stepped up attacks against Palestinian civilians.
Israel demolishes West Bank family home
Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished the home of Abdul Karim Sanoubar, a detained suspected Palestinian militant accused of planting a bomb on a bus in central Israel in February.
Troops evacuated 13 houses around the Nablus complex. Israel says the demolition of the houses is an attempt to deter future attackers, but critics say it amounts to collective punishment of the attackers’ families and will only exacerbate tensions with the Palestinians.
The military said the explosives in the planned attack did not explode and said it demolished Karim Sanubar’s home “due to the irregularity of the planned attack” and “with the support of legal authorities.”
Israeli troops then moved to the West Bank town of Aqaba and demolished the house of a man accused of carrying out a shooting attack that left one person dead, the military said.
Tensions with Lebanon and Syria
The Israeli military launched another round of attacks in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, a near-daily occurrence, as it accuses the militant group Hezbollah of failing to disarm after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire last year ended two months of war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his call for a demilitarized buffer zone on the Israeli-Syrian border as he visited wounded Syrian soldiers. Israeli forces killed 13 people in an attack on a Syrian village on Friday and opened fire on residents who confronted them, according to Syrian officials.
Israel says such attacks in Lebanon and Syria target armed groups, but critics say they take a heavy toll as civilians, including women and children, are often killed.
As Pope Leo XIV left Lebanon to visit the Middle East, he briefly mentioned the violence in southern Lebanon and called for peace in the region.
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Magdi reported from Cairo and Janetsky reported from Jerusalem.
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For more information about AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
