Israel returns 15 more Palestinian bodies to Gaza as first phase of ceasefire nears end

KHAN YOUNIS Gaza Strip AP Israel handed over the bodies of Palestinians on Wednesday a day after Hamas returned the remains of an Israeli hostage This is the latest exchange as part of a U S -brokered ceasefire reached last month whose first phase is winding down even as violence continues in Palestinian territories The remains of two hostages one Israeli and a Thai national who were abducted in the Oct Hamas-led attack on Israel that ignited the war are still to be returned Hamas disclosed it s committed to handing them over even though the recovery is made demanding by widespread destruction in Gaza while Israel has accused the militants of stalling after the last living hostages were distributed on Oct during the the majority urgent phase of the ceasefire Turkish Qatari and Egyptian mediators met in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire That is expected to include deploying an armed International Stabilization Force tasked with ensuring the disarmament of Hamas a key demand of Israel and evolving an international body to govern Gaza and oversee reconstruction But major questions hang over nearly every part of the plan and the time frame for implementation of the fragile ceasefire that has held despite accusations of violations by both sides Separately Israel s military mentioned Wednesday that it conducted airstrikes and a broad counterterrorism operation in the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank It reported the operation followed the killing of three terrorists who took part in terror attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians Palestinian bodies returned and hostage remains identified According to the ceasefire Israel has agreed to return Palestinian bodies for each hostage recovered So far bodies have been returned disclosed the Gaza Robustness Ministry It is unclear if they were people killed in Israel during the Oct attack Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops during the war Meanwhile Israel mourned the latest hostage to be returned by the Palestinian militants Dror Or Israel s military declared Or and his wife Yonat Or were killed by militants who overran their group of Kibbutz Be eri on Oct Before they were killed the couple evacuated two of their children Alma and Noam from their burning house through a window commented the Hostages Families Forum The children were abducted by the militants and distributed in a hostage deal in November The forum remembered Or as a devoted father and talented cheesemaker who spent years working at the Be eri dairy eventually managing it In total Palestinian militants killed several people across southern Israel and abducted to Gaza in their attack More shootings in Gaza military and strength administrators say Israeli troops opened fire Wednesday on a group of people in central Gaza killing a Palestinian man and wounding at least two others according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital which received the casualties Israel s military mentioned it did not have enough information about the matter to comment Also Wednesday the military disclosed its troops targeted a group of six militants in the southern city of Rafah killing one The military announcement revealed that the militants had majority of likely emerged from the underground terror infrastructure in the area Troops then searched a nearby building killing three more and apprehending two it declared Later on Wednesday the military announced troops had killed two terrorists one a member of Islamic Jihad who had approached the IDF in two separate incidents in southern Gaza The Gaza Healthcare Ministry disclosed at least Palestinians have been killed Palestinians since the ceasefire and injured in Israel s offensive in Gaza It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures but has declared women and children make up a majority of those killed The ministry is staffed by medicinal professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts Unrest continues in the West Bank An Israeli military operation took place on Wednesday in the governorate of Tubas in the West Bank Gov Ahmad Al-Asaad noted the operation involved Apache helicopters and military vehicles saying Tubas was essentially cut off by Israeli troops This military operation is a prelude to annexation and since the early hours of the morning we have activated the central exigency committee to respond to the citizens distress call in the Tubas Governorate he commented The IDF reported its operation which included the Air Force striking to isolate and contain the area was a response to attempts to establish terrorist strongholds and construction of terror infrastructures in the area Last week Israel s prime minister met with top precaution administrators to discuss a rising tide of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank which Israel captured alongside Gaza and east Jerusalem in the war and Palestinians see as central to a future state A limited days earlier Palestinian attackers stabbed an Israeli to death and wounded three more before being shot down by troops in the latest violence to rock the occupied territory Executives have warned that the unrest could spill over and undermine the fragile truce in Gaza Turkish Qatari and Egyptian functionaries meet on ceasefire Turkey s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met in Cairo on Tuesday with Qatar s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt s intelligence chief Hasan Reshat to discuss advancing to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement a Turkish guard official commented The talks also centered on intensifying joint efforts with the United States to strengthen the truce according to the official who requested anonymity in line with Turkish regulations Indonesia the world s largest Muslim-majority nation with a long experience in U N peacekeeping missions is among the countries the U S has discussed the ISF plan with in addition to Azerbaijan Egypt and Qatar On Tuesday Gen Agus Subianto Chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces disclosed they re in the selection phase for the peacekeeping force Pope Leo XIV to visit the region On Thursday Pope Leo XIV is expected to take his first foreign trip traveling first to various sites in Turkey and then to Beirut Lebanon Israel struck Lebanon s capital on Sunday killing Hezbollah s chief of staff Haytham Tabtabai and warning the Iran-backed militant group not to rearm and rebuild Frankel published from Jerusalem and Magdy released from Cairo Egypt Associated Press video journalist Jalal Bwaitel in Tubas West Bank and AP writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara Turkey and Niniek Karmini in Jakarta Indonesia contributed to this analysis