The remains of three people handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross this week did not belong to any of the hostages, an Israeli source told CBS News on Saturday. It is the latest setback that could undermine the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The unidentified remains of the three people were returned late Friday to Israel, where they were examined overnight. At the time, a military official told the Associated Press that Israeli intelligence suggested they did not belong to any of the hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack in southern Israel that sparked the war. The Israeli official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Saturday confirmed that the remains did not belong to any of the hostages, without giving further details, the Associated Press reported. CBS News has reached out to Netanyahu's office for additional comment.
The Israeli army declined to comment to CBS News on Saturday, saying it did not announce it received the bodies.
"The reports in question were not issued by us, therefore, we won't confirm their accuracy," an IDF spokesperson told CBS News.
Hamas' armed wing said in a subsequent statement on Saturday that it had offered to hand over samples on Friday of unidentified bodies, but that Israel had refused to receive them and asked for the remains for examination.
"We handed the bodies over to stop the claims of Israel," the statement said.
It's unclear who the remains belonged to.
Since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, Palestinian militants have released the remains of 17 hostages that were held in Gaza for the past two years.
But the process of returning the bodies of the last 11 remaining hostages, as called for under the truce deal, is progressing slowly, with militants releasing just one or two bodies every few days.
The total number of Palestinian bodies returned by Israel since the ceasefire began stands at 225. Only 75 of those have been identified by families, according to Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry. It is unclear if those returned were killed in Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, whether they died in Israeli custody as detainees or were recovered from Gaza by troops during the war.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hamas released all living Israeli hostages in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees. Israel pulled back its troops to a designated line within Gaza, halted its military offensive and increased aid into the territory.
The fragile truce faced its biggest challenge earlier this week when Israel carried out strikes across Gaza that killed more than 100 people, following the killing of an Israeli soldier in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, and the incomplete return of hostages.
Hamas hands over more Israeli remains
Hamas hands over more Israeli hostage remains as U.S. officials tour Gaza Strip
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