Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they had handed over the body to the Red Cross late on Wednesday afternoon

The Palstinian resistance groups did not provide the identity of the captive they handed over on Wednesday, according to the Times of Israel. 

If the body is confirmed to belong to a captive, it would mean that the remains of one captive is still held in Gaza — either police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili or Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, the Times added.

According to Anadolu Agnecy, the transfer comes under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took effect on Oct. 10, halting Israeli regime’s two-year war that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and injured over 171,000 others since October 2023.

On Sunday, senior Hamas member Husam Badran accused Israel of using the remains issue as “a pretext to avoid fulfilling its obligations” under the ceasefire deal.

The Israeli regime ties the start of negotiations for launching the second phase of the ceasefire agreement to receiving the bodies of all its captives. It claims that the remains of two Israeli captives are still in Gaza, while Hamas says it has handed over all 20 Israeli captives who were alive and the remains of all 28 who were killed.

Meanwhile, there are 9,500 missing Palestinians killed by the Israeli army whose bodies remain under the rubble, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.

MNA