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Israel receives remains of two hostages; identification underway

The remains were transferred into Israeli territory and are now en route to the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

On Tuesday night, Israel received the bodies of two hostages returned from Gaza as part of the ongoing ceasefire arrangement, according to a joint statement from the IDF and Shin Bet.

The Red Cross handed over the coffins at a designated crossing point, where dozens of residents from the Eshkol region gathered to accompany the convoy.

The remains were transferred into Israeli territory and are now en route to the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.

Officials said families would be notified once the process is complete. “The convoy is making its way to the National Center for Forensic Medicine, where the identification process will be carried out,” the IDF and Shin Bet announced.

Hamas’s armed wing claimed it had “retrieved” the bodies earlier Tuesday inside the Gaza Strip but offered no names or circumstances.

The transfer followed an announcement by Hamas that it would return the remains to the Red Cross for delivery to Israeli authorities.

The Red Cross confirmed its vehicles were dispatched to the handover site in southern Gaza before the bodies were collected by Israeli forces.

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This latest exchange came a day after the body of Tal Haimi, who was killed defending Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak during the October 7, 2023, attack, was also returned to Israel.

Under the ceasefire framework, Hamas released the final 20 living hostages last week after Israel’s withdrawal to the Yellow Line.

Since the truce began, the group has handed over the bodies of 13 slain hostages, with 15 still expected to be returned — including that of an Israeli soldier captured during the 2014 Gaza war, the only hostage taken before last year’s assault.

US Vice President J.D. Vance, who is visiting Israel, acknowledged “difficulties” in retrieving the remains of the rest of the hostages and said, “It is a focus of everybody here to get those bodies back home to their family so they can have a proper burial,” Vance told reporters, adding, “This is difficult. This is not going to happen overnight.”