The Prime Minister’s Office announced early Sunday that the bodies of two Israeli hostages were transferred to Israel through the Red Cross, after being handed over by Hamas in Gaza City.
The remains were received by IDF and Shin Bet operatives inside the Gaza Strip in a formal military ceremony attended by the chief military rabbi. The Red Cross had first taken custody of the bodies from Hamas and facilitated the handover.
Red Cross convoy en route to receive remains of slain Israeli hostages held by Hamas
The bodies were then transported into Israel and taken to the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the families of the deceased will be officially notified once the identification process is complete.
Following the transfer, the number of confirmed deceased hostages still held in Gaza stands at 16. The Prime Minister’s Office added: “All hostage families have been informed, and our hearts are with them in this painful hour. The effort to bring our hostages home continues without pause and will not end until the last one is returned.”
The transfer is part of the ongoing ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, under which 20 living hostages and 10 bodies have been returned, not including Saturday's release.
In a joint statement, the IDF and the Shin Bet internal security agency confirmed they had been notified of the transfer. “Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages,” the statement said.
Following the handover, the chief military rabbi is expected to conduct a burial ceremony for the two in Gaza before their return to Israel.
To date, 20 living hostages have been released by terrorist groups in Gaza, along with the remains of 10 others. Eighteen more bodies of Israeli hostages are still held in the enclave. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas is obligated to return all of them.
Among the 18 whose remains are still in Gaza are Col. Asaf Hamami, Capt. Omer Neutra, Lt. Hadar Goldin, Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, Sgt. Maj. Ran Gvili, Sgt. Oz Daniel, Meni Godard, Arie Zalmanowicz, Tal Haimi, Tamir Adar, Dror Or, Ronen Engel, Sahar Baruch, Amiram Cooper, Lior Rudaeff and foreign nationals: Thai citizens Sontia Ok'Krasarb and Sudthisak Rinthalak and Joshua Loitu Mollel of Tanzania.
Israeli officials expressed surprise at the announcement, saying there had been no prior indication that additional remains would be returned on Saturday. Earlier in the evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt to remain closed until further notice. His office said the decision would be re-evaluated based on how Hamas fulfills its commitments to return the deceased and implement the agreed-upon terms.
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IDF troops receive hostage Eliyahu 'Churchill' Margalit's coffin in Gaza
(Photo: IDF)
Earlier Saturday, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed that one of the returned bodies had been identified as Eliyahu “Churchill” Margalit, a civilian abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. In a statement, his family thanked the Israeli public and the forum for their support: “We promise not to stop or rest until every last hostage is brought to burial in Israel.”
On Wednesday, Hamas claimed it had already returned all hostages—alive and deceased—it was "currently able to access." Israeli officials rejected that assertion, saying Hamas knows the locations of at least 10 more bodies but is not making sufficient efforts to recover and return them, instead using them as bargaining chips. Following those statements, Margalit’s body was returned.
In addition to Margalit, Hamas this week handed over the remains of Guy Illouz, Tamir Nimrodi, Inbar Hayman, Sgt. Maj. Muhammad el-Atrash, Bipin Joshi, Capt. Daniel Perez, Yossi Sharabi, Uriel Baruch and Eitan Levy.
First published: 20:44, 10.18.25