Red Cross receives coffin believed to contain remains of Gaza hostage

The Red Cross has received a coffin, said by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to contain the body of one of the last three deceased hostages still held in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. The remains will now be transferred to Israeli forces, who will take them to Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.

The handover comes after the two armed groups announced that the body of an Israeli hostage had been located in central Gaza on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office criticised what it described as an unnecessary delay in transferring the remains, calling it a serious violation of the current ceasefire agreement. In a statement, the government reiterated its demand for the immediate return of all three deceased hostages still in Gaza.

Under the first phase of the US brokered ceasefire deal that began on 10 October, Hamas agreed to return the 20 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 28 dead Israeli and foreign hostages within 72 hours. All surviving hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza. Since then, the remains of 22 Israeli hostages have been handed over, along with the bodies of three foreign nationals from Thailand, Nepal and Tanzania. Israel, in turn, has returned the bodies of 330 Palestinians killed during the war.

Three deceased hostages remain unreturned. They include two Israelis, 24 year old Ran Gvili and 48 year old Dror Or, and one Thai national, 43 year old Suthisak Rintalak. Israel has accused Hamas of intentionally stalling the process, while Hamas says it has struggled to locate the bodies beneath extensive rubble caused by months of fighting.

The delay has halted progress toward the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which outlines future governance arrangements for Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the disarmament of Hamas and the eventual reconstruction of the territory. Movement on these issues has been limited as long as the remains of the hostages remain unaccounted for.

The dead hostages were among the 251 people abducted during the Hamas led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, an assault in which around 1,200 people were killed. Israel responded with a large scale military campaign in Gaza. According to Gaza’s Hamas run health ministry, more than 69,770 Palestinians have been killed since the operation began.

Efforts to retrieve the remaining bodies are expected to continue under international supervision as part of the ceasefire obligations. Both sides remain under pressure from families of the victims and the international community to complete the process swiftly and allow diplomatic negotiations to move forward.