Officials deny Al Jazeera report the terror group handed over one of remaining three bodies; IDF sends back dozens of Gazans who finished receiving medical treatment in Israel
Israeli officials said Monday that Hamas had handed over unspecified “findings,” clarifying that the terror group did not return the body of one of the last three deceased hostages still being held in Gaza.
The officials did not elaborate on what those findings were, but said that Israel requested that they be handed over in order for them to be examined.
One of the Israeli officials said that Hamas uncovered findings on Sunday in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood and that Jerusalem subsequently asked for them to be transferred to the Red Cross so that they could be examined inside Israel.
The clarification from Israeli officials came after Al Jazeera reported earlier in the day that Hamas had handed over the body of another hostage to the Red Cross. No statement was issued by the terror group corroborating the report. The group has publicized its return of deceased hostages in recent weeks. The Red Cross did not issue a statement on Monday confirming receipt of the findings.
Late last month, at Israel’s request, Hamas handed over partial remains of three bodies, which were not identified as belonging to any hostages.
Also on Monday, members of the southern border town of Kibbutz Be’eri held a funeral for its longtime swimming pool manager, Meny Godard, who was killed in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, and whose body was returned last week after over two years in captivity.
The bodies of three slain hostages now remain held in the Strip — two Israelis and one Thai national: Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or, and Sudthisak Rinthalak.
IDF says it killed two who crossed Gaza Yellow Line
Meanwhile, in Gaza on Monday, the IDF said it killed two Palestinians who crossed the Yellow Line demarcating the military’s withdrawal and approached troops in two separate incidents.
In the first incident in the Strip’s north, several operatives were identified crossing the Yellow Line and “planting suspicious objects in the ground adjacent to IDF troops” in a way that “posed an immediate threat,” the military said.
The Israeli Air Force struck one of the suspects, and the others withdrew from the area back over the Yellow Line, according to the IDF.
In a separate event in northern Gaza, a suspect was identified crossing the Yellow Line and approaching troops, the military said.
The forces opened fire and “eliminated the terrorist to remove the threat,” the IDF said.
The IDF says it remains deployed in Gaza “in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.”
Hamas-aligned group says Israel killed one of its leaders in undercover op
Separately, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a Gazan terror group allied with Hamas, said one of its local leaders had been killed by what it described as an Israeli undercover force near Deir Al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip.
The group said Waseem Abdel-Hadi, a commander of its armed wing, was killed in a “cowardly and treacherous assassination operation.”
The PRC, whose members joined the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught in Israel at a later stage, said Abdel-Hadi played a role in developing its armed wing. It did not issue any direct threat of retaliation.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the alleged killing.
The PRC is considered the third-largest terror organization operating in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In recent years, the group has operated under Hamas’s directives.
In May, it had also said a prominent member was killed in an Israeli commando raid.
Israel sends back Gazans who received medical treatment
Also on Monday, Israel sent dozens of Gazans who had been in Israel since before October 7 in order to receive special medical treatment — some of them with guardians — back to the Strip, a source familiar with the matter said.
Israel allowed the group of over 80 Gazans to remain in Israel after the war broke out over two years ago, though those who were receiving medical care had since completed their treatment, mostly in two East Jerusalem hospitals.
They all signed forms accepting their return to the Strip.
A smaller group of roughly 30 Gazans who are either still receiving treatment or did not want to return to the Strip were allowed to remain in Israel for the time being, the source said.
