JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Wednesday it would begin allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza through reopened crossings in compliance with a U.S.-backed ceasefire, even as it also said some of the remains returned by militants did not match those of hostages still in Gaza.
The missing remains of two hostages could hamper the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But by pledging to open the Rafah crossing, Israel has shown it is moving forward with part of its plan.
The first phase of the plan is expected to end with the return of the two remaining hostages. Palestinian militants appear to be trying to recover human remains in the rubble of war-torn Gaza, saying on Wednesday they were searching again.
After the exchange, the 20-point plan called for the creation of an international stabilization force, the formation of a technocratic Palestinian government and the disarmament of Hamas.
The World Health Organization says more than 16,500 sick and wounded people need to leave Gaza for medical treatment.
looking for remains
The bodies of two hostages remain in Gaza: Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak. Forensic testing showed the remains returned on Tuesday also did not match, the prime minister’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Salaya al-Quds, the military arm of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said its fighters traveled to northern Gaza on Wednesday morning to search for the remains.
The group said on its Telegram channel that the militants were accompanied by Red Cross staff.
Gweli was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, and was killed during fighting at another location.
Sudthisak Rinthalak is an agricultural worker from Thailand who was employed at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities hardest hit by the attack.
A total of 31 Thai workers were kidnapped, making this the largest group of foreigners kidnapped. Most of them were released during the first and second ceasefires. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in addition to the hostages, 46 Thais were killed in the war.
Hamas has yet to comment on the latest handover or news of the missing remains.
Since the ceasefire began in early October, 20 hostages and the remains of 26 others have been returned to Israel. Hamas and Israel have both repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Rafa to open “in the coming days”
The statement on opening Rafah came from COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for promoting aid to Gaza.
The statement said Israel would coordinate the evacuation of Palestinians with Egypt under the supervision of the EU delegation. COGAT said those wishing to leave Gaza would need “approval from Israeli security services”.
The ceasefire agreement calls for the opening of crossings for medical evacuations and travel to and from the Gaza Strip.
But an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the action plan said that all Palestinians who want to leave Gaza will be able to exit through Rafah as long as Egypt agrees to take them, but the crossing will not be open to those wishing to return to Gaza. The official said the EU still needed to make some adjustments to logistics before the crossings could open.
The crossing was blocked in May 2024 when Israeli forces invaded the area. The passage was briefly opened in February this year as part of a previous ceasefire agreement to evacuate the sick and wounded for medical treatment.
Israel sends envoy to meet with Lebanese officials
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he had appointed a special envoy to attend talks with Lebanese diplomatic and economic officials.
Netanyahu’s office called the appointment “an initial attempt to lay the foundation for relations and economic cooperation between the two countries.” It did not say when or where the talks would take place.
Netanyahu’s office said the appointment would come from his national security adviser’s office. Israeli media identified the envoy as Uri Resnick, a former diplomat and the council’s deputy director for foreign policy.
Israel and Lebanon have been at war since 1948. Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fought a months-long war that ended with an uneasy ceasefire a year ago.
Palestinian hospital says Israel killed man in Gaza
A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a hospital said, the latest reported Palestinian death in the strip.
Israeli forces shot the 46-year-old man dead in the Zeitoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, according to Ahli Hospital, which received the body. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The hospital said the man was shot in the “safe zone”, which is outside the control of the Israeli military under the terms of the ceasefire.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that more than 360 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect on October 11. The ministry estimates that the total number of Palestinian war-related deaths exceeds 70,100. The ministry did not distinguish between militants and civilians but said about half of those killed were women and children. 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.
Return of Palestinian bodies in flux
The exchange of the dead is a central component of the initial phase of a U.S.-brokered deal that requires Hamas to return all hostage remains as soon as possible. It seemed unlikely that Israel would release more Palestinian bodies on Wednesday without returning the remains of the hostages.
Israel has released 15 Palestinian bodies to obtain the remains of each hostage as part of the ceasefire. Gaza’s health ministry said the total number of bodies received so far was 330. Gaza health officials said they could only identify a fraction of the remains handed over by Israel, and the process was complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits.
Those exchanges continue despite Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating other provisions of the deal. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of handing over partial remains in some cases and displaying finds of bodies in other cases.
Hamas accuses Israel of opening fire on civilians and restricting humanitarian aid access to the territory. Casualties have fallen since the ceasefire came into effect, but Gaza officials continue to report deaths from attacks, while Israel says soldiers have also been killed in armed attacks.
The ceasefire aims to end a war sparked by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that left some 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage.
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Magdi reported from Cairo.