The Latest: Israel identifies remains of 2 more hostages

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Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine on Thursday identified the remains of two more hostages returned from Gaza, as officials and families warned Hamas to hand over the bodies of those still held.

Amid a fragile truce that paused the two-year war, Palestinians were awaiting a long-promised surge of aid into Gaza, and plans for an international force to deploy there were beginning to take shape.

Since Monday’s exchange, Hamas has returned 10 bodies, nine of which Israel’s military has identified as hostages. Israel said there were 28 total in Gaza before the exchange.

In exchange for the release of the hostages, Israel freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees Monday.

Here's the latest:

An Israeli airstrike targeting top leaders in Yemen’s Houthi rebels in August killed the chief of staff of its military, officials said Thursday, further escalating the tensions between the group and Israel even as a ceasefire holds in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis first acknowledged the killing of Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Ghamari, who had been sanctioned by the United Nations over his role in the country’s decadelong war.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz a short time later claimed the killing, saying that al-Ghamari had died of wounds he suffered in the attack and had joined “his fellow members of the axis of evil in the depths of hell.”

International efforts to map Gaza’s future — including Trump’s 20 point plan — have largely deferred a return to power by the Palestinian Authority, which is led by rivals of Hamas, until it carries out major reforms.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said Thursday in Ramallah that the Palestinian Authority’s plan would build directly on an Arab-led initiative announced in March. He stressed that rebuilding should be “anchored in Palestinian national ownership and leadership.” Israeli and U.S. officials rejected that plan at the time.

Though he did not mention them directly, Mustafa’s remarks stood in contrast to proposals that would place Gaza under an internationally supervised transitional governance led by a technocratic, apolitical committee.

The Ramallah-based authority hasn’t controlled Gaza since Hamas seized power in 2007 and is mistrusted by both Israel’s right-wing government and many Palestinians.

Mustafa said the PA’s program aims to rebuild Gaza and better connect it with the occupied West Bank, which it currently administers. He said the plan includes restoring an estimated $67 billion in damage.

“Recovery will not only restore homes, schools, hospitals and infrastructure,” Mustafa said. “Hopefully it will also restore hope for our people, strengthen governance, empower communities and build resilience against future shocks.”

Praising the ceasefire in Gaza, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union is committed to stability and reconstruction in the war-ravaged coastal enclave.

“It is a very special moment for the Mediterranean, but also for Europe,” Von der Leyen said in Brussels. “As both share a common future of peace and cooperation, often during unimaginable pain and loss, the devastating war in Gaza has now come to an end, marking a pivotal moment not only for Gaza, but also for the European Union and the wider Mediterranean.”

The 27-nation bloc is the largest single donor to the Palestinian Authority and has pledged to help flood Gaza with aid and bring in a police support program from the West Bank to assist in stabilization.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the bloc has launched a new donor platform to finance reconstruction in Gaza. She said that for “peace to be sustainable in Gaza, it needs strong international backing, which also means European Union.”

Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine on Thursday identified the remains of two hostages returned from Gaza, as officials warned Hamas to hand over the rest.

The Israeli military said the bodies were those of Nova music festivalgoer Inbar Hayman and Sgt. Muhammad al-Atresh, who were killed in fighting on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, igniting the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel remained “determined, committed, and working tirelessly to bring back all our fallen hostages for proper burial in their homeland."

Hamas and the Red Cross have said that recovering the remains was a challenge because of Gaza’s vast destruction, and Hamas has told mediators that some bodies are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.

The United Nations’ humanitarian chief is visiting a key Israel-controlled crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip on Thursday, as aid groups seek to ramp up deliveries of food and other basic necessities to ease hunger, disease and collapsing sanitation.

“This route is a vital lifeline for food, medicine, tents and other lifesaving aid. We want to see it full of trucks, as part of a massive surge of aid following the peace deal,” U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher wrote on X.

A day earlier, Fletcher warned that hopes pinned on last week’s ceasefire could fade amid what he called “setbacks” to getting aid into Gaza, while the World Food Program said the situation remained unpredictable. Fletcher urged Hamas to return the bodies of deceased hostages and called on Israel to allow the promised aid surge to move forward, as outlined in the agreement.

Turkey has appointed a special envoy to coordinate humanitarian aid to Gaza and ensure the rapid delivery of aid, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said Thursday.

Ambassador Mehmet Gulluoglu was named Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid to Palestine, and was already on the ground in Gaza, the officials said. He and his team will assess urgent needs, coordinate with U.N. agencies, support their operations, and consult with authorities in Egypt and Jordan to manage logistics. The envoy will also work to strengthen medical support and oversee the evacuation of patients in need, said the officials who requested anonymity to discuss the issue.

Separately, Turkey’s emergency response authority, AFAD, has made preparations to deploy an 81-person search and rescue team to assist in the recovery of missing bodies and the removal of debris, according to reports from Turkey’s IHA news agency and other media. Turkish officials would not confirm the reports.

Turkey has delivered 102,000 tons of aid to Gaza by sea and air since the start of the conflict in October 2023.

Following the ceasefire, an additional 865-ton shipment was sent by sea on Oct. 14, Turkish officials have said.

- By Suzan Frazer

Israel received the remains of two more hostages Wednesday, the Red Cross said.

The remains were transferred by the Red Cross from Hamas. After the two coffins arrived in Israel, the military in a statement cautioned that the hostages’ identities had yet to be verified.

“Israeli health and forensic authorities are responsible for identifying the remains of the deceased," the ICRC said in a statement verifying it facilitated the transfer.

“The parties must endeavor to facilitate the return of the remains of the deceased to their families. The ICRC can fulfil its functions as a neutral intermediary only through the cooperation of all actors, and within the framework of the current agreement," it said.