ISTANBUL

The Palestinian group Hamas said Sunday that it will return the body of an Israeli soldier this afternoon under a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The group’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that the remains of Hadar Goldin will be handed over at 2 pm local time (1200GMT).

It said that Goldin’s body was found on Saturday in a tunnel in the Yebna camp in the southern city of Rafah.

Goldin was captured by Palestinian resistance fighters in 2014 during an Israeli war on Gaza.

Hamas has already released 20 Israeli captives alive and handed over the remains of 25 out of 28, most of them Israelis, since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel, however, claimed that one of the received bodies did not match any of its listed captives.

Phase one of the ceasefire deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Israel has killed more than 69,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,600 others in a brutal assault in Gaza since October 2023.