Israel returns remains of 30 more Palestinians to Gaza

Israel has returned the bodies of 30 more Palestinians to Gaza as part of an ongoing exchange deal under a US-brokered ceasefire plan, a hospital told AFP on Friday.

The Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis told AFP that "the bodies of 30 Palestinian prisoners were received from the Israeli side as part of the exchange deal".

Under the truce, Israel is to return the remains of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli hostage returned by Hamas. Friday's transfer brings the number returned to Gaza to 225.

The bodies were brought to Nasser by the Red Cross, after being handed over by Israel, as has been the case in previous exchanges, the hospital said.

Under the October 10 ceasefire plan, Hamas has already returned 20 surviving hostages taken two years ago during its October 7, 2023 assault on Israel.

It has also begun sending back the bodies of 28 deceased hostages known to be missing, but the process has been slow and Israeli anger is mounting.

Hamas has sent back 15 bodies identified as Israeli hostages and those of two foreign workers -- one Thai and one Nepalese -- also taken in the October 7 attack.

It has also returned the partial remains of a deceased Israeli hostage who had already been recovered, as well as an unidentified body that had not been listed among the 28 missing.

There are 10 bodies of October 7 hostages thought to remain in Gaza, plus one more missing since 2014. All are Israeli apart from one Tanzanian and a Thai.

The Israeli government has accused Hamas of breaking the truce agreement, and families of the hostages have demanded tougher action to force the Palestinian group to comply.

Hamas insists it is committed to the ceasefire plan but is struggling to find the remaining dead because two years of Israeli bombardments have erased Gazan landmarks.

Egyptian recovery teams equipped with earth-moving equipment have joined the effort to search for the bodies.