Hamas on Thursday said it has handed over the remains of two more Israeli hostages as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. According to Hamas, it uncovered the remains of two hostages during excavations in Gaza City on Tuesday evening.
Israel on Thursday confirmed that the Red Cross was on its way to the meeting point in central Gaza, where several coffins of deceased hostages will be transferred into its custody.
🟡 According to information received, the Red Cross is on its way to the meeting point in central Gaza, where several coffins of a deceased hostages will be transferred into its custody.
The IDF requests that the public act with sensitivity and wait for the official…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 30, 2025
17 of the 28 deceased hostages returned
With this, Hamas has handed over the remains of 17 out of the 28 hostages who were either killed during the terror attack on October 7, 2023, or during their captivity in Gaza.
Hamas has been arguing that it will take time to locate and retrieve all of them, while Israel has accused the militant group of delaying the handover, an accusation it has denied.
The development comes days after the delay by Hamas in returning the remains of deceased hostages nearly collapsed the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israel accuses Hamas of staging recovery
Earlier this week, Israel had accused Hamas of staging the recovery of the remains of a slain hostage. An Israeli drone had recorded Hamas members placing the remains of a hostage in a freshly dug hole before covering the remains with dirt. The video also showed Hamas then digging up the remains and calling over members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to witness the discovery.
Israel continues strikes on Gaza
Meanwhile, Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas in eastern Gaza on Thursday, a day after reiterating its commitment to the US-backed ceasefire deal.
Palestinian residents and witnesses told Reuters that Israeli planes carried out 10 airstrikes in areas east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, while tanks shelled areas east of Gaza City in the north.
The Israeli military also confirmed the attacks and said it carried out “precise” strikes against “terrorist infrastructure that posed a threat to the troops” in the areas, which Israel still occupies.
“IDF troops in the Southern Command remain deployed under the ceasefire agreement and continue to remove immediate threats,” the IDF said in a social media post.
🎯STRUCK: A terrorist infrastructure site in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, storing weapons and aerial means intended for an imminent attack on IDF soldiers and the State of Israel.
IDF troops in the Southern Command remain deployed under the ceasefire agreement and continue to… pic.twitter.com/WYhRwdAU2k
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 29, 2025
104 killed in Israeli strikes
The strikes were the latest test of the fragile ceasefire that came into effect on October 10 in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier, 104 people were killed in Gaza in Israeli strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Israeli strikes were in retaliation for the death of an Israeli soldier, who was killed in a Hamas attack in Rafah, a claim the militant group has denied.
