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Israel handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinians on Wednesday, a day after Hamas returned the remains of an Israeli hostage. This is the latest exchange as part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire reached last month, whose first phase is coming to an end.

, one Israeli and a Thai national who were abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that ignited 

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said Wednesday that the militant group was committed to handing over the remains of the two hostages. Israel has accused the militants of stalling after the last 

 on Oct. 13, but Hamas says recovering the bodies has proven difficult due to widespread destruction in the Palestinian territory.

Turkish, Qatari and Egyptian mediators met in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, reached on Oct. 10.

That is expected to include deploying an armed International Stabilization Force, or ISF, and developing an international body to govern Gaza and oversee reconstruction. The ISF will be tasked with keeping security and ensuring the disarmament of Hamas, a key demand of Israel. Indonesian officials have said they plan to deploy 20,000 peacekeepers to the force.

Major questions hang over nearly every part of the plan and the time frame for implementation of the fragile ceasefire that has held despite accusations of violations by both sides.

Separately, a Palestinian official in the 

 accused Israel on Wednesday of conducting “a wide-scale military operation” in his governorate. Israel says it is conducting a “broad counterterrorism operation," without providing further details.

Palestinian bodies returned and hostage remains identified

According to the ceasefire, Israel has agreed to return 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage recovered. So far, 345 Palestinian bodies have been returned, said the Gaza Health Ministry. It is unclear if they were people killed in Israel during the Oct. 7 attack, Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops during the war.

The ministry said only 99 bodies have been identified. It says identifying the remains is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel mourned the latest hostage to be returned by the Palestinian militants, Dror Or. Israel’s military said Or and his wife, Yonat Or, were killed by militants who overran their community of Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, 2023.

Before they were killed, the couple evacuated two of their children from their burning house through a window, said the Hostages Families Forum. The decision ultimately saved the children, Alma and Noam, who were abducted by the militants and released in a hostage deal in November 2023.

The forum remembered Or as a devoted father and talented cheesemaker who spent years working at the Be’eri dairy, eventually managing it. The group said Or was also a chef and yoga teacher.

In total, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducted 251 to Gaza in their attack.

More shootings in Gaza, military and health officials say

Israeli troops opened fire Wednesday on a group of people in central Gaza, killing a Palestinian man, and at least two others were wounded, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the casualties.

Israel’s military said it did not have enough information about the incident to comment.

Also Wednesday, the military said its troops targeted a group of six militants in the southern city of Rafah, killing one. The military statement said that the militants had “most likely emerged from the underground terror infrastructure in the area.” Troops then searched a nearby building, killing three more and apprehending two, it said.

Since the truce took effect, the Gaza Health Ministry said, 345 Palestinians were killed and 889 were wounded in the strip as of Tuesday.

It said at least 69,775 Palestinians have been killed and 170,863 injured in Israel’s offensive in Gaza. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

An Israeli military operation was underway on Wednesday in the governorate of Tubas in the West Bank, following days of violent attacks between Israeli settlers and Palestinians.

Governor Ahmad Al-Asaad said the operation involved Apache helicopters and military vehicles, saying Tubas was essentially “cut off” by Israeli troops.

“This military operation is a prelude to annexation, and since the early hours of the morning, we have activated the central emergency committee to respond to the citizens’ distress call in the Tubas Governorate,” he said.

The IDF said it was acting “proactively to thwart” terrorism and declined to comment further, adding a report would be provided later.

Last week, Israel’s prime minister met with top security officials to discuss a 

 in the West Bank. A few days earlier, 

 to death and wounded three more before being shot down by troops in the latest violence to rock the occupied territory.

Officials have warned that the unrest could spill over and undermine the fragile truce in Gaza.

More than 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in these areas to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Turkish, Qatari and Egyptian officials meet on ceasefire

Turkey’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met in Cairo on Tuesday with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Hasan Reshat to discuss advancing to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, a Turkish security official said.

The talks also centered on intensifying joint efforts with the United States to strengthen the truce, according to the official who requested anonymity in line with Turkish regulations.

The three also agreed to deepen cooperation with the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), the U.S.-led center in Israel overseeing the ceasefire, to remove obstacles and prevent violations, ensuring the ceasefire is upheld without interruption, the official added.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation with a long experience in U.N. peacekeeping missions, is among the countries the U.S. has discussed the ISF plan with, in addition to Azerbaijan, Egypt and Qatar.

On Tuesday, Gen. Agus Subianto, Chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces, said they’re “in the selection phase for the peacekeeping force.”

Israeli defense minister says relationship with military chief intact despite spat

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in the Israeli parliament Wednesday that a recent spat with the military’s chief of staff was not preventing them from working together.

“Regarding the chief of staff, we have worked, are working, and will work together in everything related to the operational arenas of the State of Israel on all fronts,” said Katz.

Katz and chief of staff Lt. Gen Eyal Zamir have exchanged jabs in recent days over the defense minister’s decision to impose an external review on the military’s internal investigation of its conduct on Oct. 7, 2023, following the Hamas attack.

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Israel has returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians, following Hamas's return of the remains of an Israeli hostage. This exchange is part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire, with the first phase ending soon. 

Israel returns 15 more Palestinian bodies to Gaza as first phase of ceasefire nears end

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