Gaza: ‘Israel’ returns 15 Palestinian bodies bringing total to 330

• Nasser Hospital in Gaza received the bodies of 15 Palestinians on Friday as part of the exchange deal with ‘Israel’, bringing the total number of bodies received to 330.
• The exchange followed ‘Israel's’ confirmation that Hamas had returned the remains of deceased ‘Israeli’ captive Meny Godard, bringing the total number of returned ‘Israeli’ bodies to 25.

Gaza's Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said it received the bodies of 15 Palestinians on Friday as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal between ‘Israel’ and Hamas.

In a statement, the hospital said that: "15 bodies of Palestinian martyrs arrived at Nasser Medical Complex as part of the thirteenth batch of the body exchange deal, bringing the total number of bodies received to 330 martyrs."

Under the ceasefire deal, ‘Israel’ was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased ‘Israeli’ captive.

‘Israel’ confirmed overnight that Hamas had returned the remains of ‘Israeli’ captive Meny Godard.

The ‘Israeli’ military informed Godard's family that "their loved one has been returned to Israel and that his identification has been completed", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

At the start of the truce, which came into effect on October 10, Hamas was holding 20 living captives and 28 bodies of deceased captives.

It has since released all the living captives and returned the remains of 25 dead captives, in line with the ceasefire terms.

In exchange, ‘Israel’ has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of dead Palestinians.

‘Israel’ has accused Hamas of dragging its feet in returning the bodies of deceased captives, while the Palestinian group says the process is slow because many are buried beneath Gaza's rubble after two years of assault.