Israel has received the body of a hostage after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was expecting the remains of a soldier killed in 2014 to be returned.
The body was being taken to be formally identified by the Israeli military.
Earlier, Netanyahu stated that Israel was due to receive the body of Hadar Goldin, a soldier killed in an ambush by Hamas during a previous conflict in 2014, whose body has been held in Gaza since then.
Hamas's armed wing also indicated on Sunday that it would hand over Hadar Goldin's body.
If confirmed as Lt Goldin's, the return will mark the conclusion of the first phase of a ceasefire deal, seeing Hamas return all 20 living hostages and 24 of the 28 deceased hostages.
Netanyahu stated that Lt Goldin's family would now have the opportunity to give him a proper Jewish burial, reaffirming his determination to recover all deceased hostages. We have returned 250 so far. We will bring them all back, he declared.
On Saturday, Lt Goldin's family expressed profound hope, stating an entire nation is waiting for Hadar to be returned to us. They urged calm and noted, Until it's final, it's not over.
Lt Goldin, from Kfar Saba, is the only deceased hostage whose remains were being held in Gaza prior to the Hamas-led assault on October 7, 2023, which triggered the most recent conflict. He was killed in combat in August 2014, shortly after a ceasefire came into effect during that year’s conflict between Israel and Hamas. Goldin was attacked along with fellow soldiers during a patrol near Rafah in southern Gaza.
The Israeli military targeted Hamas positions intensively to prevent Goldin from being captured, leading to significant Palestinian civilian casualties during the ensuing bombardments.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military identified another body returned from Gaza as that of Lior Rudaeff, an Israeli-Argentinian man.
The situation in Gaza remains critical, with the Israeli military's ongoing operations causing extensive casualties; reports indicate at least 241 Palestinian deaths since the ceasefire began, amid a broader context where Hamas gunmen had claimed around 1,200 Israeli lives in their attack.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, the aftermath of the conflict has seen approximately 69,169 fatalities in Gaza since the onset of renewed hostilities on October 7, 2023.
