The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said that one of the four bodies of hostages that it received from Hamas yesterday does not match with any of the captives held by the Palestinian militant group since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
The military said it came to this conclusion after examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, adding that “Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages”.
On Tuesday, the remains were handed over to Israel after the Jewish nation threatened to reduce humanitarian aid into Gaza for what it called the militant group’s violation of its agreement to transfer remains under the US-brokered ceasefire deal reached last week.
While the fourth body is believed to be that of a Palestinian, the three other hostages were identified as Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi, Uriel Baruch, and Eitan Levy.
The four coffins were handed over to the Red Cross at a meeting point in northern Gaza Strip. Those coffins, escorted by Israeli forces, crossed the border into Israel shortly before midnight and were being taken for forensic identification.
As part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point proposal to end the war in Gaza, the two warring sides on Monday exchanged the last 20 living Israeli hostages in Gaza for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners.
While addressing the Knesset the same day, Trump proclaimed the “historic dawn of a new Middle East”.
But the return of 28 dead hostages has remained one of the final details to be worked out in the deal to end more than two years of hostilities that began with Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas has now handed over eight coffins of dead hostages, leaving at least 19 presumed dead and one unaccounted for still in the Gaza Strip.
