ALBAWABA - Israel said on Saturday that it had identified the body that had been moved from Gaza the day before. After forensic tests, they confirmed that it belonged to Israeli hostage Leor Rodaiv. According to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, the family has been officially told.
The Israeli army said that Rodaiv was a reserve soldier who died during the Hamas-led attack on Kibbutz Be'er Yitzhak on October 7, 2023. They found his body in southern Gaza.
Earlier, Al Jazeera's reporter said that the al-Qassam Brigades and al-Quds Brigades gave the body to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after it was found in Khan Younis.
This transfer comes after another one on Wednesday, when the al-Qassam Brigades gave the body of another Israeli captive back to the Israeli government. This time, the captive was found in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. These steps are part of an ongoing agreement between Hamas and international mediators.
Ongoing body exchanges between the two sides
In return, Israeli troops gave Gaza the bodies of 15 Palestinian martyrs as part of the ongoing framework for exchanging dead bodies.
The ICRC took the bodies of the Palestinians from the Kisufim crossing to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. This delivery was the 11th batch that was sent as part of the deal. Nasser Hospital said it had received the bodies of 300 Palestinians whose bodies had been held by Israeli forces.
Authorities in Gaza said that 144 bodies that could not be identified were buried in a mass grave in Deir al-Balah because they could not figure out who they were.
Deal for a ceasefire and the bodies that are still there
Hamas has freed 20 living captives and returned the bodies of 21 of the 28 dead captives since the ceasefire on October 10. Israel says that there are still six bodies in Gaza.
Israel has said that the return of the other bodies is a requirement for moving on to the next round of talks. Hamas says that it takes time to find all the bodies because the destruction in Gaza has buried many of them under rubble. The group has asked mediators to send tools and technical teams to help with the recovery efforts.
The handover on Friday was the 22nd body returned since the ceasefire began. Mediators are still working to keep the truce stable and move forward with the other terms of the agreement.
