JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Wednesday that partial remains returned by militants did not match the hostages remaining in Gaza, while it announced plans to reopen a key Gaza border crossing for the exit of Palestinians from the strip.
The missing remains of two hostages threaten to stall a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in its first phase. But by promising to open the Rafah crossing, Israel showed it was moving ahead with parts of the U.S.-backed plan.
The first phase of the plan is supposed to wind down with the return of the two remaining hostages. Palestinian militants, who appear to be struggling to find the remains amid the rubble of war-torn Gaza, said they were searching again on Wednesday.
Following the exchanges, the 20-point plan calls for creating an international stabilization force, forming a technocratic Palestinian government and disarming Hamas.
The World Health Organization says there are more than 16,500 sick and wounded people who need to leave Gaza for medical care.
Searching for remains
Two hostages' bodies are still in Gaza: Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak. In a statement Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Office said forensic testing showed the remains returned Tuesday did not match either.
Saraya al-Quds, the miliary arm of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said its militants were moving Wednesday morning to search in northern Gaza for the remains.
The group said on its Telegram channel that the militants were accompanied by workers from the Red Cross.
Gvili was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023 and was killed fighting at another location. The military confirmed his death four months later. He is survived by his parents and a sister.
Sudthisak Rinthalak was an agricultural worker from Thailand who had been employed at Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities in the attack. According to media reports, Sudthisak had been working in Israel since 2017.
A total of 31 workers from Thailand were abducted, the largest group of foreigners to be held in captivity. Most of them were released in the first and second ceasefires. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said in addition to the hostages, 46 Thais have been killed during the war.
Hamas has yet to comment on the latest handover or the news about the missing remains.
Twenty living hostages and the remains of 26 others have been returned to Israel since the ceasefire began in early October. Both Hamas and Israel have accused the other of breaking the ceasefire multiple times.
Rafah to open in 'coming days'
The statement about opening Rafah came from COGAT, the Israeli military body charged with facilitating aid to Gaza.
It said Israel would coordinate with Egypt on the exit of Palestinians, under the supervision of a mission from the European Union. Those wishing to leave Gaza will require “Israeli security approval," COGAT said.
The ceasefire deal calls for the crossing to be opened for medical evacuations and for travel to and from the strip.
But an Israeli official, who spoke anonymously to discuss operational plans, said that all Palestinians who to exit Gaza will be able to exit through Rafah as long as Egypt agrees to receive them. The official said the European Union still had to make some adjustments to logistics before the crossing could open.
The crossing was sealed off in May 2024 when Israel’s miliary invaded the area. It was briefly opened in February this year for the evacuation of sick and wounded Palestinians for treatment, as part of the previous ceasefire deal.
Israel sends envoy to meet with Lebanese
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he appointed an envoy to join talks with Lebanese diplomatic and economic officials.
Netanyahu’s office called the appointment “the first attempt to create a basis for relations and economic cooperation” between the two countries. It did not say when or where the talks would be held.
A statement said Netanyahu said the appointment would come from the office of his national security adviser. Israeli media identified the envoy as Uri Resnick, a former diplomat and the council’s deputy director for foreign policy.
Israel and the Lebanon have been in a state of war since 1948. Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fought a months-long war that ended in a shaky ceasefire one year ago.
Return of Palestinian bodies in flux
The exchanges of the dead have been the central component of the initial phase of the U.S.-brokered agreement, which requires Hamas to return all hostages' remains as quickly as possible. Without the return of hostage remains, it seemed unlikely that Israel would release more Palestinian bodies on Wednesday.
Israel has been releasing 15 Palestinian bodies for the remains of each hostage as part of the ceasefire agreement. The Gaza Health Ministry said the total number of remains received so far is 330. Health officials in Gaza have said they have only been able to identify a fraction of the bodies handed over by Israel, and the process is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits.
The exchanges have gone ahead even as Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating other terms of the deal. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of handing over partial remains in some instances and staging the discovery of bodies in others.
Hamas has accused Israel of opening fire on civilians and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into the territory. The number of casualties has dropped since the ceasefire took effect, but officials in Gaza have continued to report deaths from strikes, while Israel has said that soldiers have also been killed in militant attacks.
The ceasefire aims to wind down the war that was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll has topped 70,100. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians, though it says roughly have of those killed have been women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
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Magdy reported from Cairo.
