The Israeli military confirmed that one of the bodies returned by Hamas as part of the ceasefire agreement did not belong to any of the hostages. This handover of bodies by Hamas was in response to pressure on the ceasefire deal. The military stated that after forensic examinations, the fourth body received from Hamas did not match any of the hostages.
In a related development, Hamas handed over four bodies on Tuesday and four more on Monday as part of the agreement. The Hostages Family Forum identified three of the bodies as belonging to Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi, and Eitan Levi. Baruch was abducted during an attack in October 2023, while Nimrodi and Levi were taken from different locations during the same period.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted that Hamas comply with the terms of the ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump regarding the return of the hostages’ bodies. The US-proposed plan had set a deadline for the handover of all hostages, living and deceased, which expired on Monday. Hamas pledged to work on returning the bodies in line with the ceasefire deal.
Hamas, through its spokesman Hazem Kassem, affirmed its commitment to returning the bodies as agreed, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire with recent shootings. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, warned that the military would target anyone approaching the designated deployment lines, citing recent incidents with alleged militants.
The return of living hostages and the release of prisoners were cause for celebration among Israelis and Palestinians, respectively. However, concerns were raised by families of the deceased hostages who were not all returned. The challenges of recovering dead hostages were attributed to Gaza’s extensive destruction, with some bodies believed to be in areas controlled by Israeli forces.