Israel said it received the body of a Gaza captive through the International Committee of the Red Cross and added that it will begin allowing Palestinians to leave through a border crossing with Egypt, but not return.
The announcements follow statements by the armed wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad saying they would hand over the body at 5:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday, after it was recovered in northern Gaza.
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“The coffin will then be transferred to Israel, to the National Forensic Medicine Center of the Ministry of Health. Once the identification process is completed and based on the results, a formal notification will be given to the family,” the Israeli military said in a post on X.
This comes a day after Israel said remains previously transferred by Hamas were not related to any of the bodies of captives still being held in the Gaza Strip.
The handover of the remains is part of a US-brokered plan aimed at ending Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza. A fragile ceasefire continues to hold despite persistent Israeli killings throughout the enclave.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the long-closed Rafah crossing will open for medical evacuations and travel to and from Gaza. The World Health Organization says there are more than 16,500 sick and injured people who need to leave Gaza for medical care.
However, it was not immediately clear when the border crossing would open due to a dispute Israel has with Egypt.
Israel says Palestinians will not be able to return to Gaza through the crossing until the last captive remains are returned from Gaza. Egypt, which controls the other side, said the crossing will open only if movement is in both directions.
Twenty live abductees and the remains of 26 others have been returned to Israel since the ceasefire began in early October. Two bodies still found in Gaza are those of Ran Gvili, an Israeli police officer, and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, a farm worker.
Israel's statement has raised fears that it could lead to the permanent displacement of Palestinians, something that far-right ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline government have promoted for months.
“Israeli maneuvers”
Egypt's State Information Service, citing an unnamed official, rejected the claim, saying Cairo has not accepted any plans to open the crossing only for outbound movement.
Any agreement with Israel, the official said, would require opening Rafah in both directions in accordance with the current ceasefire plan. The source denied coordination with Israel on the reopening.
Hussein Haridy, former Egyptian deputy foreign minister, said Egypt remains “committed to UN Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted on October 17 last year, which endorsed a ceasefire plan.”
All crossings should open according to the resolution, and Egypt is working with the European Union and the Palestinian Authority to operate the posts, including Rafah, when conditions allow, he told Al Jazeera from Cairo.
“We need to operate the Rafah crossing in accordance with the [US President Donald] Trump peace plan. Since 1948, when Israel was established, we have become accustomed to Israeli maneuvers when it comes to implementing ceasefire agreements,” Haridy said.
“That said, we will criticize Israel if it does not implement the Security Council resolution.”
Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh said Israel's announcement reflects a pattern of “trickle-down” of its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
Odeh said Israel intends to maintain a veto on who can leave, including medical cases, and will not allow thousands of Palestinians who have registered to return to Gaza to do so.
Gaza's Health Ministry and Government Media Office say Israeli forces have killed 357 Palestinians in the first 50 days of the truce.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 70,117 Palestinians and injured 170,999 since October 2023. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, and about 200 were taken captive.
