Israeli authorities received a coffin, said to contain the body of an Israeli hostage, from the Red Cross in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday afternoon. In the past, Hamas has lied about such remains.
“Israel has received through the Red Cross the body of a deceased hostage that was transferred to an Israel Defense Forces and General Security Agency force inside the Gaza Strip,” Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Hamas is believed to have held three bodies of hostages prior to the handover.
The Israeli military’s rabbi is scheduled to receive the body when it arrives in Israel and to transfer it to the National Forensic Institute near Tel Aviv.
“At the end of the identification process, an official notice will be given to the family,” the prime minister’s office said. It did not name the hostage, whose remains are believed to have been transferred.
The Israel Defense Forces said that Hamas turned the remains over to the Red Cross at a “meeting point.” The Red Cross delivered the body to Israel.
The IDF “requests that the public act with sensitivity and wait for the official identification, which will first be provided to the families,” the Israeli military said.
Earlier in the day, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said that they intended to return the remains of a murdered hostage at 4 p.m. local time. The previous handover took place on Nov. 13, when Hamas transferred the body of Meny Godard.
The terror organizations’ announcement came minutes after the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday that it viewed with “great severity” any delay in releasing the body.
“In light of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s announcement that it has located the remains of a deceased hostage, Israel views with great severity the delay in immediately transferring them to its custody,” it said.
“This is an additional violation of the agreement,” it added. “Israel demands the immediate return of the three deceased hostages, who are still being held in the Gaza Strip.”
Islamic Jihad first claimed on Monday that it had found the remains of a hostage.
“Today, we found the body of one of the enemy prisoners during search operations in areas controlled by the Zionist army in the central Gaza Strip,” the Al-Quds Brigades stated, per AFP reporting.
As of Tuesday morning, the bodies of three murdered hostages remained in Gaza: Israel Police counter-terrorism officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.
