Hamas's armed wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, said on Sunday that it had located the remains of one of the deceased hostages held in Gaza captivity, and it would return the individual that day if the "field conditions are suitable."
"The al-Qassam Brigades found the body of an Israeli prisoner today during ongoing search operations," the terror organization stated.
Hamas would "hand [the remains] over today if the field conditions are suitable. We emphasize that any Zionist escalation will hinder the search, excavation, and recovery of the bodies, which will delay the occupation's recovery of the bodies of its dead," the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades added.
The Hamas statement comes after the IDF struck in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on Sunday. The IDF action followed Hamas terrorists firing an anti-tank missile and opening fire towards Israeli soldiers in breach of the ceasefire agreement.
Returned and not yet returned hostages
The hostage Hamas said it would return on Sunday is one of the original 28 deceased hostages that remained in captivity at the start of the ceasefire earlier this month. Only 12 have been returned thus far.
The remains of Bipin Joshi, Guy Illouz, Yossi Sharabi, Daniel Peretz, Tamir Nimrodi, Uriel Baruch, Eitan Levi, Ronen Engel, Inbar Hayman, Muhammad al-Atarash, Eliyahu Margalit, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri have been returned by Hamas.
Hostages Tamir Adar, Sahar Baruch, Itay Chen, Amiram Cooper, Meny Godard, Hadar Goldin, Ran Gvili, Tal Haimi, Asaf Hamami, Joshua Loitu Mollel, Omer Neutra, Dror Or, Oz Daniel, Lior Rudaeff, Arie Zalamanowicz, and Sudthisak Rinthalak have not yet been returned and are presumed to still be in Gaza.