Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 19, 2025
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 19, 2025
Gaza health ministry says 15 bodies returned to Strip by Israel
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A hospital employee checks the remains of Palestinians released by Israel under a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, inside a truck in front of the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 18, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza today, bringing the total number handed over to 150, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory says.
Under a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli hostage returned to Israel by Hamas.
Hamas returned the remains of two hostages late last night — Ronen Engel, an Israeli national, and Thai farmworker Sonthaya Oakkharasri.
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