Israel claims presumed remains returned from Gaza 'not linked' to last two captives
Hamas teams continue sifting through rubble under a fragile ceasefire after Israel says the latest bodies found are not linked to the last missing captives.
Israel said on Wednesday that forensic tests showed that the remains retrieved from Gaza the day before were "not linked" to the last two dead captives held in the Palestinian territory.
In a statement, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Following the completion of the identification process at the National Centre of Forensic Medicine, it was determined that the findings brought yesterday for examination from the Gaza Strip are not linked to any of the fallen hostages."
On Tuesday, Israeli police said they had received the presumed remains of one of the remaining captives and escorted what they called "the coffin of the fallen hostage" to the forensic centre.
Netanyahu's office had said earlier that Israel received "findings" through the Red Cross inside Gaza.
Progress on captive returns under phase one
While Hamas released the living captives it held in Gaza as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel, the process of returning the remains of the deceased captives has dragged on.
The Palestinian resistance group has blamed difficulties in finding the remains beneath the sea of rubble created by the war with Israel.
Israel has accused the Palestinian group of dragging their feet.
All but the bodies of two captives — Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak — have been handed over so far.
A Hamas official told AFP on Tuesday that a team from the Palestinian resistance group and Islamic Jihad — accompanied by the Red Cross — had been conducting search operations for several days in multiple areas, particularly in Jabalia and Beit Lahia in the north of the territory.
The official said "a number of bodies were found" but that there was "no confirmation that any of these bodies found belong to an Israeli prisoner".
The ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10, remains fragile, with Israel continuing its attacks on previously agreed-upon withdrawal zones, amid an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.
Under the first phase of the deal, Palestinian teams have handed over the last 20 living captives, and so far, the remains of 26 out of 28 deceased ones.