Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
02-11-2025
JERUSALEM/ GAZA STRIP: Israel has returned the bodies of 30 more Palestinians to Gaza as part of an ongoing exchange deal under a US-brokered ceasefire plan, a hospital told media on Friday.
Al-Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis told media that “the bodies of 30 Palestinian prisoners were received from the Israeli side as part of the exchange deal.”
Under the truce, Israel is to return the remains of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli hostage returned by Hamas. Friday’s transfer brings the number returned to Gaza to 225.
The bodies were brought to Al-Nasser by the Red Cross, after being handed over by Israel, as has been the case in previous exchanges, the hospital said.
Under the October 10 ceasefire plan, Hamas has already returned 20 surviving hostages taken two years ago during its October 7, 2023 assault on Israel.
It has also begun sending back the bodies of 28 deceased hostages known to be missing, but the process has been slow and Israeli anger is mounting.
Hamas has sent back 15 bodies identified as Israeli hostages and those of two foreign workers, one Thai and one Nepalese – also taken in the October 7 attack.
It has also returned the partial remains of a deceased Israeli hostage who had already been recovered, as well as an unidentified body that had not been listed among the 28 missing.
There are 10 bodies of October 7 hostages thought to remain in Gaza, plus one more missing since 2014. All are Israeli apart from one Tanzanian and a Thai.
The Israeli government has accused Hamas of breaking the truce agreement, and families of the hostages have demanded tougher action to force the Palestinian group to comply.
Hamas insists it is committed to the ceasefire plan but is struggling to find the remaining dead because two years of Israeli bombardments have erased Gazan landmarks.
Egyptian recovery teams equipped with earth-moving equipment have joined the effort to search for the bodies.
Israeli forces storm Nablus
Israeli forces have begun a raid on the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
According to Wafa news agency, Israeli forces stormed the city from the at-Tur military checkpoint and reached the Al-Baqah junction. Soldiers also raided a building under construction and deployed snipers on its roof.
Red Cross denies Israeli claims
The International Committee of the Red Cross has rejected Israeli allegations that visits to Palestinian detainees pose a security threat.
On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz banned the ICRC from visiting Palestinians held under a law allowing indefinite detention. Katz said the visits, halted since the Gaza war began, would “seriously harm the state’s security” but ICRC director-general Pierre Krahenbuhl said on Friday there was “no way in which our visits can pose a security threat or a national security threat” to Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel’s defence minister and military chief have announced they will appoint a new top military lawyer capable of meeting “significant challenges”, with the “protection of IDF soldiers” named as the foremost priority.
The joint statement from Defense Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir on Friday came hours after they dismissed Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi for leaking a video showing alleged abuse of a Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman.
Tomer-Yerushalmi had defended investigating the abuse, saying even detainees she considered “terrorists” should not face violence. (Int’l News Desk)
