Middle East

Gaza, Israel lifts emergency Red Cross takes over body of hostage

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israel continues to prevent its international staff and humanitarian aid from entering Gaza

27 October 2025

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Palestinesi osservano i macchinari e alcuni operai egiziani che cercano i corpi degli ostaggi ad Hamad City, a Khan Younis, nel sud della Striscia di Gaza, domenica 26 ottobre 2025. (Foto AP/Jehad Alshrafi)

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

For the first time since the attack on 7 October 2023, Defence Minister Israel Katz has decided that the emergency situation declared in southern Israel will be lifted. This is according to a report in the Times of Israel. The 'special situation' allowed the army's Home Front Command to restrict gatherings and close certain areas. It was declared on the morning of 7 October throughout the country, but has since remained in force only in the south. The order will expire tomorrow and, for the first time in more than two years, there will be no active 'special situation' in Israel.

While the fragile truce in Gaza holds for now, despite the fact that Israel's operations have not ceased, there is also tension in Lebanon. In fact, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have accused Unifil of shooting down one of their drones on Sunday in southern Lebanon, in the Kfar Kila area, where Israeli troops were carrying out a reconnaissance mission. "A preliminary investigation revealed that Unifil deliberately fired at the drone, despite the fact that it posed no threat,'' reads an IDF note. "IDF forces threw a hand grenade into the area where the drone was shot down,'' the note continues, claiming that "no shots were fired at Unifil forces.

Idf: Red Cross took over body of hostage

The IDF has announced that the Red Cross has taken over the body of an Israeli hostage in Gaza City from Hamas and is now bringing the coffin to Israeli troops inside the Strip. A small ceremony, presided over by a military rabbi, will be held afterwards. Israeli media report this.

The search for the bodies of the hostages

Egypt is stepping up rescue and evacuation operations in the Gaza Strip and brought 12 heavy vehicles to the Palestinian enclave this morning to clear the roads and assist in the efforts tosearch for the bodies of the hostages. This was reported by the Saudi al Hadath channel.

According to the Times of Israel, Israel does not know the whereabouts of four of the remaining 13 hostage bodies held in Gaza, according to a report released yesterday, in the face of mounting pressure on Hamas to resume handing over the bodies in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire and hostage-taking agreement. Jerusalem has been trying to impress upon Washington the extreme importance of returning the remaining bodies from the Strip, public broadcaster Kan reported, while days have passed without Hamas handing over the remains of other deceased hostages.

Hamas says it has not yet been able to locate the bodies of some of the 13 remaining hostages and has not returned any since Tuesday, claiming that it needs assistance in locating and recovering them. However, Israel is reportedly confident that the terrorist group can hand over more bodies, but is refusing to do so and is also withholding information on their whereabouts, in open violation of the 9 October ceasefire agreement. However, the delay in recovering the deceased hostages does not appear to be the only threat to the fragile ceasefire, as a prominent Hamas leader said yesterday that the terrorist group would not disarm until the Israeli 'occupation' was a thing of the past.

Hostage families: 'No to phase 2 Gaza plan without return of bodies'

In questo scenario, le famiglie degli ostaggi israeliani deceduti e i cui corpi sono ancora nella Striscia di Gaza hanno chiesto agli Stati Uniti e al governo di Benjamin Netanyahu di non procedere con la seconda fase del piano sul cessate il fuoco a Gaza fino a quando le salme dei loro cari non verranno restituite. ’’Hamas sa esattamente dove si trova ognuno di loro’’, si legge in una lettera dell’Hostages and Missing Families Forum, che aggiunge: ’’Sono trascorse due settimane dalla scadenza stabilita nell’accordo per il ritorno di tutti i 48 ostaggi, eppure 13 rimangono prigionieri di Hamas”. L’Hostages and Missing Families Forum prosegue affermando che “le famiglie esortano il governo di Israele, l’amministrazione degli Stati Uniti e i mediatori a non procedere alla fase successiva dell’accordo finché Hamas non avrà adempiuto a tutti i suoi obblighi e restituito tutti gli ostaggi a Israele”.

Still obstacles to UNRWA intervention

Nel mentre, l’Agenzia delle Nazioni Unite per i rifugiati palestinesi (Unrwa) afferma che Israele continua a impedire al suo personale internazionale e agli aiuti umanitari di entrare a Gaza. Tuttavia, circa 12 mila dei suoi dipendenti locali stanno portando avanti la fornitura di “assistenza sanitaria, supporto psicosociale e istruzione alla popolazione, spesso in condizioni inimmaginabili”, ha affermato l’agenzia in un post su X, riportato da Al-Jazeera. L’anno scorso Israele aveva vietato all’Unrwa di operare nel territorio sotto il suo controllo, sostenendo che diversi suoi dipendenti erano membri di Hamas, scrive ancora la testata araba. La Corte Internazionale di Giustizia ha stabilito la scorsa settimana che Israele, in quanto potenza occupante, deve sostenere gli sforzi di soccorso forniti dalle Nazioni Unite e dalle sue entità, tra cui l’Unrwa. Ha inoltre rilevato che Israele non ha dimostrato le sue affermazioni secondo cui un numero significativo di dipendenti dell’Unrwa sar

Pizzaballa, rebuilding Gaza requires governance that is not there

"For the reconstruction of Gaza it will still take time because it requires a governance that is not there. Now we are still in the phase of the truce and the consolidation of the truce. We must recover the bodies of the hostages who are still under the rubble. We can work on the reconstruction when all the phases of the post-war will be clear but on this there is still much to work on". This was said by the Cardinal Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa on the sidelines of "Dare to Peace", the international meeting of the Community of Sant'Egidio.