Israel’s military says the Red Cross has retrieved a coffin of a deceased hostage in the southern Gaza Strip and is now “on the way to IDF [Israel Defence Forces] troops” in the territory.
Posting on X, the IDF urged the public to “act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families”.
It also stressed that Hamas was required to “return all the deceased hostages” in accordance with a Gaza ceasefire agreement.
This follows an earlier statement from Hamas that it would hand over the body of an Israeli hostage to the Red Cross.
Hamas this week returned the bodies of nine of the 28 dead hostages in Gaza, and freed all 20 living hostages.
There has been fury in Israel that Hamas has not returned all the bodies in line with last week’s ceasefire deal – though the US has downplayed the suggestion it amounts to a breach.
In its posts on X late on Friday, the IDF gave no further details where the hostage’s coffin would be taken after its transfer by the Red Cross.
Meanwhile, the Times of Israel reported that a small ceremony – led by a military rabbi – would be held in Gaza, and the remains would then be taken to Tel Aviv for identification.
Hamas has said it remained committed to the ceasefire, including “keenness to hand over all remaining corpses”.
The Palestinian group accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of impeding its ability to search for hostages’ remains by not allowing heavy machinery and diggers into Gaza.
Speaking at a memorial for victims of the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack, Netanyahu said he was “determined” to secure the return of the dead hostages still in Gaza, and that the country would continue to fight terrorism with “full force”.
As part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, Israel freed 250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.
At least 67,967 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.
