After a day without the return of any fallen hostages, Hamas on Friday night handed over the body of a hostage killed in Gaza to the Red Cross. The individual is one of 19 fallen hostages still held in the coastal enclave. The Red Cross collected the body from southern Gaza, though Hamas did not disclose the identity.
The IDF and Shin Bet have updated that the coffin of the abducted soldier has crossed the border into Israeli territory and is on its way to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where an identification procedure will be carried out.
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Work to locate the bodies of the kidnapped in Gaza
(Photo: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
In a joint statement, the IDF and Shin Bet said: “Hamas must comply with the agreement and make every effort necessary to return the bodies of the hostages.”
Following the announcement, Israel’s Coordinator for Hostages and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsch, informed families: “As part of Israel’s firm insistence on implementing the agreement, the transfer of another fallen hostage to our custody is expected to take place tonight. Once the remains are in our hands, a respectful military ceremony will be held, after which the body will be transferred to the National Center of Forensic Medicine for identification. Once the identification is complete, we will notify the family and subsequently update all families.”
Hamas claimed Friday evening, via mediators, that it had located a fallen hostage. Hamas’s message to mediators came after Israel asserted that the terror group knows the locations of at least 10 more remains, yet is “not exerting enough effort” to retrieve them — preferring to use them as bargaining chips.
Earlier, Israel said “Hamas could try harder” to retrieve the remains, and as reported by ynet, the group had supplied mediators with coordinates for locating them. Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told Reuters the organization has “no interest in holding on to the remaining bodies of the captives.” In response, Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said, “Hamas is supposed to release all the hostages in the first phase. It did not. Hamas knows where our fallen captives’ bodies are.”
Hamas claims it already released all captives — living and dead — that it could reach. Nazzal said the organization ran into technical difficulties in recovering additional remains, and added that international actors would assist in the search if necessary.
Earlier reports said U.S. President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is planning to visit the region — including Israel — early next week to discuss implementing the agreement and returning the remaining bodies from Gaza.
Documentation of the searches in Gaza
Officials close to his team told ynet Witkoff is overseeing execution of the agreement closely and vowed not to relent on the issue of recovering the fallen hostages, including a number of U.S. citizens. One source familiar with the matter told ynet: “The U.S. is fully engaged and it does not look like they have let up on the pedal.”
Hamas has already transferred from Gaza to Israel the remains of Guy Illouz, Tamir Nimrodi, Inbar Hayman, Maj. Mohammed Alatrash, Bipin Joshi, Capt. Daniel Perez, Yossi Sharabi, Uriel Baruch and Eitan Levi.
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19 fallen hostages are still held in Gaza
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson, courtesy of the families)
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Steve Witkoff in Hostage Square alongside Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump
(Photo: Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Nineteen fallen hostages are still held in Gaza: Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, Lt. Hadar Goldin, Tamir Ader, Dror Or, Sontia Ok'Krasari, Ronen Engel, Sahar Baruch, Ran Gvili, Meny Godard, Staff Sgt. Oz Daniel, Aryeh Zalmanovich, Tal Haimi, Asaf Hamami, Joshua Luito Mollel, Eliyahu Margalit (Churchill), Capt. Omer Nauta, Amiram Cooper, Lior Rudaif and Sontisek Rintalk.
First published: 22:19, 10.17.25