Israel returns 15 bodies to Gaza after hostage remains are identified

Israel on Saturday returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza, hospital officials in the strip said, a day after militants returned the remains of a hostage to Israel under the terms of the ceasefire agreement in the two-year war

Israel on Saturday returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza, hospital officials in the strip said, a day after militants returned the remains of a hostage to Israel under the terms of the ceasefire agreement in the two-year war.

The exchange marked another step forward for the tenuous, U.S.-brokered truce. As part of the deal, Israel has returned the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage.

The Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said the 15 bodies were brought there.

The return came shortly after Israel confirmed the remains given back Friday night were of an Israeli man who died while fighting Hamas in the militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack that started the war. The hostage body was identified as that of Lior Rudaeff, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Rudaeff was born in Argentina and and moved to Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, a farming community in southern Israel, as a child. He volunteered for more than 40 years as an ambulance driver and was a member of the community’s emergency response team.