JERUSALEM (AP) — The remains of a hostage in Gaza, Staff Sergeant Itay Chen, have been returned for burial in Israel, the military said Wednesday, in the latest sign of progress under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Chen, 19, of the 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade, was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, after falling from a tank and his death was officially confirmed on March 10, 2024, the military said in a statement on X.
“The IDF expresses deep condolences to the family, continues to make every effort to return all the deceased hostages, and is prepared for the continued implementation of the agreement,” it said.
The announcement came after the remains of a hostage in Gaza were returned Tuesday. Ahead of the announcement, Hamas had returned the remains of 20 hostages to Israel under the ceasefire that began Oct. 10.
The ceasefire is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.
The military wing of Hamas said earlier Tuesday it had recovered the body of an Israeli soldier in Gaza and intended to hand over the remains.
Militants in Gaza have released one to three bodies every few days. Israel has pushed to speed up the returns and in certain cases has said the remains were not those of hostages. Hamas has said the work is complicated by widespread devastation.
For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians. So far the bodies of 270 Palestinians have been handed over under the current ceasefire. Fewer than half have been identified. Forensic work is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits in Gaza. The Health Ministry there posts photos of the remains online, in the hope that families will recognize them.
The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
Israel responded with a sweeping military offensive that has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.
Israel, which has denied accusations by a U.N. commission of inquiry and others of committing genocide in Gaza, has disputed the ministry’s figures without providing a contradicting toll.
US suggests mandate for international force
The United States has produced a draft text for the U.N. Security Council that would provide a mandate for an international stabilization force in Gaza for at least two years. The draft, confirmed to The Associated Press by two U.S. officials, is an early template for what would likely be extensive negotiations among council members and international partners. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Arab and other countries that have expressed interest in participating in the stabilization force have indicated that U.N. backing of the plan is necessary to persuade them to contribute troops. One official said the document had not been formally circulated to other U.N. Security Council members and had been prepared as a starting point to find consensus.
Efforts to increase aid
Since the ceasefire began, the World Food Program has reached one million people in Gaza with food parcels, a WFP official said Tuesday. But more border crossings must be opened to scale up those efforts, said Ross Smith, the agency’s director of emergency preparedness and response.
“We are still, as WFP, only moving half of what we want to move into Gaza,” Smith said an interview with the AP. “We need all crossings to be open. Right now, there’s only two. We need all internal routes inside Gaza to be accessible to us, and right now they are not.”
In a visit Tuesday to meet with Palestinian officials in the West Bank, Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the aid process, witnessing the handover of the latest installment in $24 million of aid to the WFP.
Nearly 40 countries and international organizations now have representatives at a U.S.-led center opened in Israel last month to coordinate aid to Gaza and monitor the ceasefire, the U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.
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Associated Press journalists Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, Sam Mednick in Juba, South Sudan, Matthew Lee in Washington, Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Paolo Santalucia in Rome contributed to this report.
Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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