Israel has received what Hamas says are the remains of two deceased hostages held in Gaza
Red Cross vehicles transport the bodies of two deceased hostages after they were handed over by Hamas militants
By Mohammad Al Sawalhi and Oren Liebermann, CNN
(CNN) — Israel has received the remains of what Hamas earlier said were two deceased hostages held in Gaza. The remains were transferred to Israel via the Red Cross and will be taken to the country’s national forensics laboratory for identification.
If confirmed, that would leave the bodies of 11 deceased hostages remaining in Gaza.
“The effort to bring back our hostages continues uninterrupted and will not cease until the return of the last hostage,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The transfer of the remains comes just two days after Israel carried out punishing strikes in Gaza in response to the Hamas killing of an Israeli soldier in Rafah on Tuesday afternoon. The Israeli strikes killed more than 100 Palestinians, including at least 46 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, marking by far the deadliest day in Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect nearly three weeks ago.
Even so, Hamas and Israel said they were still committed to the US-brokered ceasefire agreement. The transfer of two more sets of remains from Hamas to Israel on Thursday marked the strongest indication yet that the deal had not collapsed, despite the severe test it faced just days earlier.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that “nothing’s going to jeopardize” the Gaza ceasefire. He threatened to “take out Hamas very easily.”
The latest transfer appeared to proceed without the issues that have plagued recent attempts to return the remaining deceased hostages to Gaza. Hamas announced on Tuesday it was set to hand over one set of remains before saying under Israeli bombardment hours later that it would not transfer the remains.
On Monday evening, Hamas handed over remains of deceased hostage Ofir Tzarfati, whose body had been recovered by Israel in Gaza two years earlier. Tzarfati was not among the remaining deceased hostages to be returned under the ceasefire, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accuse Hamas of a “clear violation” of the deal.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) then released video it said showed Hamas staging the discovery of the remains in Gaza City and turning over the remains to the Red Cross. In a statement, the Red Cross said, “It is unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged, when so much depends on this agreement being upheld and when so many families are still anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.”
This story has been updated with additional development.
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