Israel receives remains of two more hostages as Hamas says time needed to reach others

The forensics team that received the bodies said some arrived still shackled or bearing signs of physical abuse.

Israeli authorities said on Wednesday that they received the remains of two more hostages, hours after the military said that one of the bodies previously turned over was not that of a hostage, adding to the confusion in the fragile peace deal.The coffins carrying the remains were transferred by the Red Cross from Hamas late Wednesday, and upon returning to Israel, were sent to a forensic lab in Tel Aviv. The military, in a statement, cautioned that the hostages’ identities had yet to be verified.As part of the deal, four bodies of hostages were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday, following four on Monday that were returned hours after the last 20 living hostages were released from Gaza. In all, Israel has been awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.The Israeli military said forensic testing showed that “the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages.” There was no immediate word on whose body it was.In exchange for the release of the hostages, Israel freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Monday.Meanwhile, for its part, Israel returned 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, bringing to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial.Unidentified bodies returned to Gaza show signs of abuseIsrael is expected to turn over more bodies, though officials have not said how many are in its custody or how many will be returned.It is unclear whether the remains belong to Palestinians who died in Israeli custody or were taken from Gaza by Israeli troops. Throughout the war, Israel’s military has exhumed bodies as part of its search for the remains of hostages.As forensic teams examined the first remains returned, the Health Ministry on Wednesday released images of 32 unidentified bodies to help families recognise missing relatives.Many appeared decomposed or burned. Some were missing limbs or teeth, while others were coated in sand and dust. Health officials have said Israeli restrictions on allowing DNA testing equipment into Gaza have often forced morgues to rely on physical features and clothing for identification.The forensics team that received the bodies said some arrived still shackled or bearing signs of physical abuse.Sameh Hamad, a member of a commission tasked with receiving the bodies at Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital, said some arrived with their hands and legs cuffed.“There are signs of torture and executions,” he told The Associated Press.The bodies, he said, belonged to men ages 25 to 70. Most had bands on their necks, including one that had a rope around the neck.Most of the bodies wore civilian clothing, but some were in uniforms, suggesting they were militants.Hamad said the Red Cross provided names for only three of the dead, leaving many families uncertain of their relatives’ fate. The fighting has killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.