Israel handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip

(Patria) - Israel yesterday handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinians killed during the war in the Gaza Strip, three days after the remains of the last Israeli hostage were recovered.

Mediators hope these moves will pave the way for the implementation of the next phase of US President Donald Trump's peace plan.

Policeman Ron Gvili was one of 251 hostages captured by Hamas militants and taken to the Gaza Strip during the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war.

At the time of the ceasefire agreement, which Israel and Hamas agreed to in October, 48 hostages remained in the Gaza Strip, and 28 of them were considered dead, including Gvili.

The handover of all remaining living and dead hostages was a key obligation under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that it mediated the return of 15 dead Palestinians to the Gaza Strip after Israel recovered Gvili's remains.

"This marks the completion of a months-long operation that reunited families and supported the implementation of the ceasefire agreement," the ICRC said in a statement.

📍 Israel and the occupied territories | Today, we facilitated the return of 15 deceased Palestinians to Gaza, after the remains of the final deceased hostage were recovered by Israeli authorities.

This marks the completion of a months-long operation that reunited families and… pic.twitter.com/RORexi0NL2

— ICRC (@ICRC) January 29, 2026

The operation began in October when Hamas released 20 living hostages, and Israel released 1,808 Palestinian prisoners, according to the ICRC.

In later phases, the ICRC helped return the dead, including 27 of the 28 hostages and 360 Palestinians.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, run by Hamas, confirmed the receipt of 15 bodies, noting that they will now attempt to identify them.

So far, only 99 Palestinian bodies handed over since October have been identified, forcing health officials to bury unidentified bodies in mass graves.

Violence continues in the meantime. Medics said Israeli forces killed two men in eastern Khan Yunis, an area where the army operates.

The Israeli army stated that it "carried out a precise strike in accordance with the ceasefire agreement, targeting a militant who was planning an attack on its units".

"Steps were taken to mitigate civilian harm before the strike," the military statement reads.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced that Israeli airstrikes, tank shelling, and gunfire have killed at least 490 people since the ceasefire came into effect in October, following two years of war that has largely devastated the Palestinian enclave.

Later in the day, at least one Palestinian was killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike in the Maghazi camp in the central part of the enclave. It is unclear what triggered the attack, and the Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel claims that Palestinian militants killed four soldiers in the Gaza Strip during the ceasefire. Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.

By moving to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, the US and mediator partners Egypt and Qatar must confront the more sensitive issue of disarming Hamas, which the group has long refused.

The plan also envisages the deployment of international peacekeeping forces.