Khaberni - The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced on Wednesday that they will hand over the body of an Israeli prisoner at 9 PM (19:00 GMT), as part of the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza.
The brigades stated on their Telegram channel that they will "hand over the body of one of the occupation’s prisoners found in the Al-Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City at 9 pm Gaza time".
In return, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip confirmed the arrival of 15 bodies of Palestinians who were martyred in the region, whose bodies were held by Israel, and were handed over through the International Committee of the Red Cross, following the terms of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Thus, the number of bodies handed over by the Israeli army as part of the ceasefire agreement has risen to 285.
The handover followed the handing over of the body of one of the Israeli soldiers held hostage last night, Tuesday by Hamas.
In related news, eyewitnesses confirmed that representatives from the Red Cross and the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, then went accompanied by Egyptian vehicles to the Al-Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City, to continue the operation of searching for more Israeli hostage bodies in the Gaza Strip.
Israel confirmed on Wednesday morning that the body handed over by Hamas belongs to an American Israeli captured on October 7, 2023.
A statement issued by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "After the identification process of the hostage at the National Center for Forensic Medicine... the representatives of the Israeli army informed the family of the deceased Sergeant Itai Tzayin, that he has returned to Israel and was identified."
The Israeli army stated in a statement that Tzayin "was 19 years old at the time of his death. And his death was officially declared on March 10, 2024."
Thus, the number of hostage bodies still to be returned to Israel by Hamas under the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip mediated by US President Donald Trump, is now seven.
Tzayin was stationed on the border with the Gaza Strip when Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Tzayin gave a final signal to his parents that he was still alive during the attack on his base. His fate remained unclear for five months until the Israeli army declared his death in March 2024.
The Israeli army reported that he was killed during fighting and his body was transferred to the Palestinian sector.
Since the ceasefire agreement in Gaza took effect on October 10, Hamas has released the last 20 living hostages, in exchange for the release of about two thousand detained and imprisoned Palestinians, and began returning the bodies of dead hostages.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, handed over to the Red Cross the body of the Israeli hostage found in the Al-Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City.
The Qassam clarified in another statement that with the Red Cross team, the Qassam crews found the body after a search and digging operation inside the yellow line, i.e., in areas controlled by Israeli forces.
On the other hand, an informed source in Hamas told AFP that "a number of bodies of Palestinian martyrs were found under the rubble, alongside the remains of the Israeli prisoner".
The delay in handing over the bodies of the hostages has caused the Israeli government's frustration, accusing Hamas of stalling. While the movement says the process is slow because the remains are buried under the rubble.
Repeatedly, Hamas has called on the mediators and the Red Cross to provide it with the necessary equipment and personnel to extract the bodies.
The health authorities in the region stated that Israel, in return, delivered the remains of 270 Palestinians killed since the outbreak of the war in October 2023.
Earlier on Tuesday, health authorities in Gaza said that a man was killed by Israeli fire in Jabalia in the north of Gaza. The Israeli army said it killed a person who had crossed into areas still occupied by the army and "posed a direct threat," according to the army.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 68,875, mostly children and women, since the war began on October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The number of injuries has risen to 170,679, while a number of victims are still under the rubble, and rescue and ambulance crews are unable to reach them.
