Israel received on Thursday a casket containing what is said to be the body of a hostage recovered in Gaza. The transfer was carried out inside the Strip by the Red Cross, which handed the body to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel before a brief ceremony led by an IDF rabbi.
Earlier Thursday, Al Jazeera broadcast footage showing masked Hamas gunmen in Khan Yunis extracting a body wrapped in white sheets from debris after heavy machinery cleared rubble. The video ended with operatives placing a photograph of an Israeli hostage—believed to have been murdered and taken by Islamic Jihad—on the body bag. Israeli outlets have withheld the name pending formal identification and notification of the family. Hamas has previously returned the wrong remains, prompting caution from authorities.
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Police escorted the casket to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv, where specialists will determine the identity of the deceased. Officials say the examination could take up to two days. Along the route, residents lined the streets, waving Israeli and yellow hostage solidarity flags as the convoy passed.
At the start of the ceasefire in October, Hamas held 48 hostages in Gaza: 20 alive and 28 dead. According to the agreement, the terror group was required to hand over all of them within 72 hours. While all surviving captives have now been released, Israel accuses Hamas of delaying the return of the deceased. In accordance with the terms of the deal, Israel has been returning 15 Palestinian bodies for every deceased Israeli hostage transferred.
The last return occurred Sunday, when the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin—killed and abducted in 2014—was brought home after more than a decade.