Egyptian-Israeli talks on recovering the remains of an Israeli soldier in Gaza

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that an Israeli delegation held talks in Cairo, with the aim of discussing efforts to recover the remains of an Israeli soldier missing in the Gaza Strip.

A statement issued by Netanyahu's office explained that the Israeli delegation, headed by the coordinator of the Israeli General Security Apparatus, Brigadier General (Res.) Gal Hirsch, held meetings with the Egyptian and Qatari mediators concerned with the ceasefire file in Gaza, in order to secure the immediate release of the remains of First Sergeant Ran Guili.

The Israeli delegation included officials from the army, the General Security Apparatus (Shin Bet), and the Mossad, according to the statement.

The statement indicated that it was agreed at the conclusion of the talks to intensify efforts and accelerate the pace of work to complete the Shin Bet mission.

Earlier, Hamas announced that it had handed over the body of one of the Israeli prisoners, stressing its commitment to completely ending the exchange file within the framework of the ceasefire agreement.

In return, Israel stated that the remains that were handed over belonged to the Thai worker, Suthisak Rintalak, noting that the body of only one prisoner remains in Gaza, who is First Sergeant Ran Guili.

Hazem Qassem, the spokesperson for Hamas, affirmed that the movement continues to adhere to the ceasefire agreement, and that it handed over the body of one of the Israeli prisoners as part of the implementation of what was agreed upon, stressing that the movement will continue to work to completely end the exchange file.

Israel links the start of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza to its receiving all of its prisoners in Gaza, after the Palestinian factions handed over the twenty living Israeli prisoners and the bodies of 26 prisoners, within the first phase of the agreement.

Despite the fact that one body of its prisoners remains in Gaza, Israel insists on its intransigent position on the file of the bodies of Palestinian prisoners, as there are 9,500 missing Palestinians who were killed by its forces, and their bodies are still under the rubble of the houses that it destroyed during the war, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza.

It is worth noting that more than 9,300 Palestinian prisoners are languishing in Israeli prisons, including children and women, and they suffer from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, which has led to the death of dozens of them, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights reports.

Since October 8, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been waging a war on Gaza, which has resulted in the martyrdom of more than 70,000 Palestinians and the injury of more than 171,000 others, most of whom are children and women.

The war was supposed to be ended by a ceasefire agreement that came into effect on October 10, but Israel violates it daily, which has led to the martyrdom and injury of hundreds of Palestinians.

Israel prevents the entry of sufficient quantities of food and medicine into Gaza, where about 2.4 million Palestinians live in catastrophic humanitarian conditions.