The Latest: Israel says one body handed over wasn’t a hostage as aid trucks head for Gaza

The Israeli military says one of four bodies handed over by Hamas on Tuesday is not that of any of the hostages who were held in Gaza, adding to strain on the fragile ceasefire to end the two-year war.

Separately, forensic experts in Gaza on Wednesday started identifying 45 bodies of Palestinians that Israel handed over to the Red Cross the previous day without identification. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the bodies were those of people who died in Israeli prisons or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops.

Meanwhile, the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza has resumed after a two-day break. The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel, and medical supplies were bound for the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, while Israel and Hamas argue over the slow return of the bodies of deceased hostages.

Here’s the latest:

UN humanitarian chief says Israel must allow more aid into Gaza

The United Nations’ humanitarian chief warned Wednesday that hopes pinned on last week’s ceasefire deal are slipping, as aid groups again struggle to deliver needed supplies into Gaza to ease hunger, disease and collapsing sanitation.

Tom Fletcher called on Hamas to make efforts to return the bodies of deceased hostages and Israel to allow for the surge in aid as stipulated in the agreement.

“We made progress clearing roads and reopening bakeries. We shared in the joy and relief of families reunited. But yesterday we faced further setbacks to that implementation,” Fletcher, the U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, said.

“As Israel has agreed, they must allow the massive surge of humanitarian aid — thousands of trucks a week — on which so many lives depend, and on which the world has insisted,” he added, pushing Israel to open more border crossings to deliver aid into Gaza.

His remarks followed an announcement by COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing aid, that only half the expected 600 trucks would enter Gaza on Wednesday, after two days of closure for hostage exchanges and Tuesday’s Jewish holiday.

It was not immediately clear whether Israel would withhold deliveries amid questions about the return of deceased hostages. COGAT declined to comment on the number of trucks expected to enter Gaza on Wednesday.

Bodies of more Palestinians returned to Gaza

Israel has transferred the bodies of more Palestinians to Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal, according to officials at Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.

An Associated Press journalist at the facility saw three trucks carrying the bodies arriving at the hospital.

Bodies recovered from under rubble are brought to Gaza hospitals

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Wednesday the bodies of 19 people have been brought to hospitals in Gaza over the past 24 hours.

They include 16 bodies that were recovered from under the rubble, the ministry said in its daily report. Hospitals also received 35 wounded.

That has brought the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war to 67,938 since Oct. 7, 2023, the ministry said. Another 169,638 have been wounded, it said.

The ministry said it didn’t add the 45 bodies that Israel transferred to Gaza on Tuesday to its tally.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the casualties were women and children.

EU says it’s ready to deploy humanitarian mission

The European Union said on Wednesday it is on standby to deploy a long-standing humanitarian mission, known as EUBAM, at the Rafah border crossing in Gaza if conditions on the ground improve.

“EUBAM remains on standby to deploy to the Rafah crossing point in support of the Gaza peace plan as soon as conditions allow,” said Anouar El Anouni, a spokesperson for the European Commission. He did not elaborate on those conditions. “We remain on standby and we stand ready to deploy at short notice.”

The European Border Assistance Mission in Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border began in 2005.

The EU, which has provided key support for the Palestinian Authority, pledged to help flood Gaza with humanitarian aid. It said it could extend a police support program already operating in the West Bank to Gaza to buttress a stabilization force called for in current peace plan from U.S. President Donald Trump. Outrage over the war has riven the 27-nation bloc and pushed relations between Israel and the EU to a historic low.

Aid trucks head for Gaza

The Egyptian Red Crescent said at least 400 trucks carrying food, fuel, and medical supplies were bound for the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The announcement comes as Israel and Hamas fight over the slow return of the bodies of deceased hostages.

On Tuesday, the Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, notified humanitarian organizations Tuesday that it would allow into Gaza only half the 600 daily aid trucks called for under the deal.

It was not immediately clear whether it was following through on the threat. COGAT declined to comment on the number of trucks expected to enter Gaza on Wednesday.

Palestinian center seeks information on bodies returned

The Palestinian Center for the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons urged Israel Tuesday to provide all available information on bodies returned to Gaza, including “names of the victims and details about the circumstances of their deaths.”

The center said it received information that some of the bodies that were transferred Tuesday were only partial remains, raising concerns about the circumstances of their death and detention.

It called for Israel to immediately release all bodies in its custody, as well as provide information about the fate of forcibly disappeared Palestinian since the start of the war in Gaza two years ago. The center said between 8,000 and 9,000 Palestinians have been missing or forcibly disappeared since the start of the war.

Gaza authorities begin identifying bodies

Forensic authorities in Gaza on Wednesday started the identification process of 45 bodies of Palestinians that Israel released the previous day as part of the ceasefire deal, according to the health ministry. Israel is expected to transfer more bodies, though the total number has not been announced.

Israel handed over the bodies through the Red Cross without identification. It was not immediately known if they were Palestinians who died in Israeli prisons or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops. During the war, the Israeli military has exhumed bodies as part of its search for the remains of hostages.

At Nasser Hospital, forensic experts at the morgue were taking photos of each body and whatever belongings and clothes were found in the body bag, the hospital said. The photos will then be published on the Health Ministry’s website so people can identify them.