Hamas prepares to hand over more remains to Israel

Jerusalem: Hamas said it would hand over the remains of a hostage as Israel said it would start letting Palestinians leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, signs that the US-backed ceasefire was holding despite an earlier glitch over returned remains.

Hamas said it would return the newly discovered remains on Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear to whom they belonged. Only two hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, and the first phase of the deal is supposed to end when both are returned.

The deal calls for the long-closed Rafah crossing to be opened for medical evacuations and travel to and from the strip. The World Health Organisation says there are more than 16,500 sick and wounded people who need to leave Gaza for medical care.

An Israeli official told The Associated Press that Rafah would only be open for Palestinians to exit Gaza, not enter. Egypt, which controls the other side, said the crossing would open only if movement goes both ways.

Following the exchanges, the 20-point plan calls for creating an international stabilisation force, forming a technocratic Palestinian government and disarming Hamas.

Hamas said it would return another hostage at 5 pm Once received by Israel, the remains will likely undergo testing to determine if they belong to either hostage still in Gaza.

In the earlier snag, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday forensic testing had revealed the partial remains returned by militants Tuesday did not match either of the hostages still in Gaza.

Palestinian militants began searching again and said later Wednesday they had found a hostage’s body in northern Gaza.

Two hostage bodies are still in Gaza: Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak. Gvili was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, and was killed fighting at another location. Sudthisak Rinthalak was an agricultural worker from Thailand who had been employed at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities in the attack.

A total of 31 workers from Thailand were abducted, the largest group of foreigners to be held in captivity. Most of them were released in the first and second ceasefires. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said that, in addition to the hostages, 46 Thais have been killed during the war.