Israel received, via the Red Cross, a casket on Tuesday night containing the body of a slain hostage, which was handed over to the Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip. From there, it will be transferred to Israel, where it will be honored in a military ceremony with the participation of a military rabbi.
“According to information provided by the Red Cross, a coffin of a deceased hostage has been transferred into its custody and is on the way to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip,” the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a joint statement, later updating that the casket was in their possession.
“Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages,” the statement said.
The casket will be taken to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Health to determine whether it is one of the eight remaining deceased hostages held by terrorists in Gaza, which include six Israelis and two foreign nationals.
Once the identification process is completed, an official notification will be delivered to the family.
Three bodies that were returned on Sunday for burial have been positively identified on Monday as Col. Asaf Hamami, Capt. Omer Maxim Neutra and Sgt. Oz Daniel.
Hamas was to return the bodies of 28 murdered hostages within 72 hours of Oct. 13, the day the U.S.-brokered ceasefire began. However, it has slow-walked the return of the bodies, in some cases returning remains that belonged to none of the 28 individuals taken captive by Hanas and Palestinian terrorists in their cross-border invasion and massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
