Following months of negotiations, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are preparing to transfer remains believed to be of a hostage to Israel on Wednesday, a move facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross. The handover comes amid ongoing efforts to account for the 251 hostages originally taken during the October 7th attacks, and highlights the immense challenges of identifying remains after over two years of intense conflict in Gaza. While initial examinations of remains transferred Tuesday proved inconclusive, the process underscores the deeply personal toll of the conflict for families on both sides awaiting closure. The transfer is occurring under the terms of a ceasefire agreement intended to secure the release of all remaining hostages.
afp_tickers
Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad are set to hand over remains to Israel on Wednesday, believed to be those of a hostage held in the Gaza Strip. The transfer is being facilitated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The move follows an announcement earlier Wednesday from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office that remains turned over on Tuesday did not belong to any of the hostages previously held in Gaza.
According to a source within Hamas, a team from the group’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, and Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades, discovered remains potentially belonging to an Israeli captive under the rubble in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, which has been heavily damaged during more than two years of conflict.
The source said the Red Cross will “transfer the sample… to the Israeli side for examination” on Wednesday. A source in Islamic Jihad confirmed the information to the Associated Press.
Netanyahu’s office stated earlier Wednesday that “after the identification process was completed at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, it was determined that the remains brought in yesterday from the Gaza Strip are not related to any of the deceased hostages.”
Under the terms of a ceasefire agreement that began on October 10, Hamas pledged to return all 48 remaining living hostages, as well as the bodies of 20 deceased captives. Currently, the group holds the remains of two Israelis, Ran Gvili, and Thai worker Sudthisak Renthalaek, out of a total of 28 bodies.
Netanyahu’s office stated that contact has been made with the families of the two individuals, emphasizing that “the effort to return them will not stop until the mission is completed, to return them for proper burial.”
On Tuesday, Israeli police announced they had received remains believed to be those of one of the two remaining hostages. However, a Hamas official told the Associated Press that “there is no confirmation” that the remains belong to either of the two individuals.
Hamas attributes the slow pace of recovering remains to the massive piles of rubble created by two years of destructive warfare.
Militants from Hamas took 251 hostages during their October 7 attack on Israel, during which 1,221 people were killed in Israel, the majority of them civilians, according to an Associated Press tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel responded with a military campaign in Gaza that has resulted in the deaths of 70,112 Palestinians, most of whom are civilians, according to data from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which is considered reliable by the United Nations.
The exchange of remains underscores the ongoing humanitarian consequences of the conflict and the challenges of identifying those who have died in the fighting.
