The remains of another deceased hostage crossed into Israel after being handed over to the Red Cross on Monday evening local time, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement posted on social media.
An Israeli group that represents the hostages’ families confirmed on Tuesday morning that the remains had been identified as those of Tal Haimi, a non-commissioned officer who was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack at the kibbutz where he lived.
“On the morning of October 7, Tal went out to defend his community, fighting against dozens of terrorists at the gates of Nir Yitzhak,” the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. “He and his team fought with extraordinary courage for several hours. During the battle, Tal was killed and taken to Gaza.”
There were thought to be 16 remains of deceased hostages still in Gaza before his body was handed over on Monday, with 12 confirmed sets of remains already transferred.
Before announcing the handover of the 13th set of remains on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said in an earlier statement that Hamas “is required to uphold the [peace] agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages.”
The return of all the hostages — of whom there were 20 living and 28 dead — is a cornerstone of the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan. Hamas was supposed to have completed the handover by Monday, Oct. 13, but only returned the 20 living hostages by that deadline.
The return of the remains on Monday came after U.S. senior envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel to try to keep the peace process on track following a bout of violence over the weekend.
Netanyahu said Monday that the military had dropped almost 169 tons of bombs in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. The IDF said it launched the strikes after two soldiers were killed when Hamas operatives opened fire with an RPG. Hamas has rejected Israel’s claim that it was involved in that attack.
The skies over Gaza were quiet again on Monday, and both sides recommitted to the peace process.
Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance are following in the footsteps of Mr. Trump’s two peace envoys and departed for Israel on Monday afternoon, according to a spokesman for Vance. Shosh Bedrosian, a spokeswoman for Netanyahu’s office, said Monday that Vance and his wife were expected to be in Israel “for a few days and will be meeting with the prime minister.”
The IDF said on Monday it was marking a so-called “yellow line” — the line to which Israeli troops withdrew as part of the peace plan.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: cbsnews.com
