Israel Recovers Bodies of Three Hostages From Hamas, Confirms PM’s Office
Remains handed over by Red Cross for identification, eight hostages’ bodies still in Gaza as Israel, Hamas continue truce based exchanges.
Jerusalem, Nov 3: Israel on Sunday confirmed it had received the remains of three hostages from Hamas in Gaza as part of the ongoing exchange of bodies under the ceasefire agreement.
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the bodies were transferred to Israeli forces inside Gaza by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). They will now be sent to the National Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv for official identification.
“Once the identification process is completed, an official notification will be delivered to the families,” the statement said.
If verified, this development would mean that eight hostages’ bodies remain in Gaza, out of the 28 that Hamas was required to return under the truce deal. In exchange, Israel agreed to hand over the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants killed during the war.
Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades said the remains were recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis region. The group identified one of the bodies as that of Colonel Asaf Hamami, an Israeli officer killed on October 7, 2023, while defending Kibbutz Nirim during the Hamas led assault.
In a separate statement, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the handover reflected the group’s “commitment to continuing the exchange process,” urging mediators to pressure Israel to uphold its end of the ceasefire agreement.
Despite the ceasefire, Gaza’s health authorities reported that at least 236 Palestinians have been killed and over 600 wounded by Israeli fire since October 11. The overall death toll from Israeli strikes since October 7, 2023, has climbed to 68,865, according to local officials.
