Israel identifies two more hostages’ bodies as Vance prepares to meet Netanyahu

TEL AVIV: Israel has completed the identification of the bodies of two more hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday, as US Vice President JD Vance sounded a buoyant note about progress in Gaza’s fragile ceasefire during a visit to Israel.
Authorities identified the deceased hostages as Arie Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar. Their bodies were transported in coffins by the Red Cross and handed over to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. A military ceremony attended by the chief rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces was planned for later in the day, Netanyahu’s office said.
The two were killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants, which triggered the two-year war.
Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over, a key element to the ceasefire agreement.
Meanwhile, the burial of more than 50 Palestinians is set for Wednesday at a cemetery in Deir al Balah, Gaza. The bodies were displayed outside Nasser hospital in Khan Younis ahead of burial. The 50 are among the 165 bodies of Palestinians that Israel has so far handed over.
Vance is meeting Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. He is accompanied by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
On Tuesday, Vance, Witkoff and Kushner said the ceasefire had exceeded expectations but acknowledged flareups of violence in recent days.
Uncertainty remains over the peace plan, including disarming Hamas, the deployment of an international security force in Gaza and who will govern the territory. Vance said Tuesday officials are brainstorming on the composition of the security force, mentioning Turkiye and Indonesia as countries expected to contribute troops.
Britain is also sending a small contingent of military officers to Israel to assist in monitoring the ceasefire.
Charity says an armed group took over its Gaza facility
A top Palestinian non-governmental organization that offers mental health services to people in Gaza said Wednesday that there had been an “armed raid and brutal takeover” of one its facilities in the territory last week.
The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme said an “armed group” it didn’t identify stormed the facility in Gaza City on Oct. 13, seized the building, expelled guards by force and put up their own families there.
“This blatant attack and serious crime represents a flagrant violation of all laws and norms,” the group said.
It was unclear why the organization waited more than a week to report the takeover, but it said that although it had made immediate requests for authorities to intervene, there had been no “concrete action” to return the facility “despite repeated promises to evacuate.”
It urged Palestinian authorities to act immediately so that the facility is returned to its hands, ensure that patients and staff are protected and to hold those responsible to account “without any delay or leniency.”
It also called on countries sponsoring the ceasefire agreement to “intervene decisively” and prevent actions undermining humanitarian work.
Israelis to bid farewell to a Thai hostage killed on Oct. 7, 2023
Israelis were set on Wednesday to bid farewell to a Thai farm worker whose body will be repatriated to his native Thailand later in the day.
Sonthaya Oakkharasri was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and his body was held in Gaza until it was returned last weekend.
A statement by the Families’ Headquarters for the Return of the Abductees said a gathering will be held at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv to pay last respects to Oakkharasri, calling him a “devoted father and farmer who dreamed of establishing his own farm.”
In the 2023 attack on Israel that started the war, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people as hostages.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.