The Hamas terrorist organization, through the International Committee of the Red Cross, on Tuesday evening returned the remains of two more slain Israeli hostages it had been holding in the Gaza Strip.
After being handed over to Israeli forces by a Red Cross team inside the Strip, the bodies were transferred to the Jewish state and received in a military ceremony, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Following an identification process at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv, the PMO confirmed the hostages’ identities as Aryeh Zalmanovich and Israel Defense Forces Master Sgt. (res.) Tamir Adar.
The Israeli government “shares in the deep sorrow of the Zalmanovich and Adar families and all the families of the deceased hostages,” it said.
Jerusalem “remains determined, committed, and working tirelessly to return all of our deceased hostages for proper burial in their country,” added the PMO.
The PMO emphasized that Hamas must honor its commitments under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal and return the 14 remaining bodies it continues to hold hostage in Gaza, almost 750 days after the terror organization’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal that went into effect last week, Hamas was required to return all 28 hostage bodies it was holding on Oct. 13. So far, the terrorist group has transferred to Jerusalem only 14.
Zalmanovich and Adar were both abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border by Hamas-led terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre.
Zalmanovich, 86 at the time of his death, one of the founding members of Kibbutz Nir Oz and among the oldest hostages taken that day, died in captivity after several weeks. His son has said he was murdered in Gaza.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated on Wednesday morning: “Aryeh Zalmnovitz was kidnapped alive from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on the morning of Oct. 7 and murdered in Hamas captivity. A father of two sons and grandfather of five, he was a man of books and deep knowledge of history and the Land of Israel. He devoted his life to agriculture and field crops, specializing in growing wheat under the harsh conditions of the Negev.”
Adar, the community’s deputy security coordinator, was killed on Oct. 7 defending Nir Oz. The IDF reservist, 38 at the time of his murder, is survived by his wife and two young children.
Tamir “was severely wounded and kidnapped as he went out to defend the Nir Oz community on the morning of Oct. 7, during a heroic battle against hundreds of terrorists,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated on Wednesday. “Tamir did not survive his injuries.”
“Tamir, a third-generation member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was a devoted family man and father,” it said. “A lover of people and the land—farmer at heart—who, even as a child, loved roaming the kibbutz’s fields and trails, and would often take his young children to watch the sunset.”
Adar’s confirmed death brings the Israeli military’s total fatalities on all fronts since the war started on Oct. 7 to 920, as of Wednesday morning.
