Israel identifies the bodies of 3 soldiers received from "Hamas"

The Israeli army announced on Monday that it had identified the bodies of three military captives received on Sunday evening from Hamas through the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The bodies belong to Captain Omer Maxim Nautra, Sergeant First Class Oz Daniel, and Colonel Asaf Hamami, who is the highest-ranking officer captured by Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

The army stated in a press release: "Army representatives informed the families of the kidnapped Colonel Asaf Hamami, Captain Omer Maxim Nautra, and Sergeant First Class Oz Daniel, that the remains of their sons have been returned to the country for burial."

It added that this step was taken after the completion of the identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, in cooperation with the police.

It clarified that "Colonel Asaf Hamami was the commander of the Southern Brigade in the Gaza Division and was killed while fighting in Kibbutz (settlement) Nirim on the morning of October 7, 2023."

On that day, Hamas attacked military bases and settlements surrounding Gaza, killing and capturing Israelis in response to "the daily crimes of the Israeli occupation for decades against the Palestinian people and their sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque," according to the movement.

The army added that "Captain Omer Maxim Nautra immigrated to Israel from the United States as a lone soldier under the 'Gar'in Tzabar' program and served as a commander of a platoon in the 77th Battalion of the Sa'ar Brigade."

It continued that he "was killed in the settlements surrounding Gaza on the morning of October 7, 2023."

"As for Sergeant First Class Oz Daniel, he served as a soldier in the 77th Battalion of the Sa'ar Hagalil Brigade and was also killed on the morning of October 7, 2023," according to the army.

The delivery of these bodies was part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel that began on October 10, according to a plan by U.S. President Donald Trump, whose country supported the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

With the delivery of the three bodies, Hamas has released twenty living Israeli captives and the remains of 18 out of 28 captives, most of whom are Israelis, while Tel Aviv previously claimed that one of the received bodies did not match any of its captives.

Israel conditions the start of negotiations to launch the second phase of the agreement on receiving the remaining bodies of the captives, while the movement asserts that it takes time to retrieve them due to the massive destruction in Gaza.

In contrast, there are 9,500 missing Palestinians killed by the Israeli army, and their bodies remain under the rubble of the destruction caused by the Israeli genocide, according to the government media office in Gaza.

Additionally, more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, including children and women, are held in Israeli prisons, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, with many having died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.

The ceasefire agreement halted an Israeli genocide against Gaza that resulted in 68,865 Palestinian deaths and 170,670 injuries, most of whom are children and women, with the United Nations estimating the reconstruction cost at around $70 billion.