Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, received 15 bodies of Palestinians from Israel under the US-brokered ceasefire agreement reached last month. This was followed by the return of the body of an Israeli national held hostage in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on the previous day. According to the agreement, Israel shall return 15 Palestinian hostages in return for each Israeli hostage.On Saturday, the Israeli Defence Force confirmed the identification of the body received as that of Lior Rudaeff, who served in the Nir Yitzhak rapid response team.

Since the ceasefire was brokered on October 10, the remains of 23 hostages held by Hamas have been released, with five remaining in Gaza. Hamas says the remaining bodies are yet to be located from the rubble left behind by the Israeli offensives on Gaza. In turn, Israel has also returned the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage released.According to the Gaza health ministry and the Red Cross, 285 Palestinian dead bodies have been returned by Israel. Out of which the team has only been able to identify 89 bodies due to not having access to DNA kits, according to The Associated Press.As per the ceasefire agreement, Israel is also supposed to allow more aid into Gaza. According to the United Nations spokesperson, only 37,000 tons of aid, mostly food, have been admitted to Gaza. More than 200,000 metric tons of aid positioned to move into Gaza remain unadmitted.The data by the Gaza Health Ministry shows that the ongoing Israeli offensives in Gaza have killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, about half of whom are women and children. The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.