Red Cross Retrieves Body of Deceased Hostage in Gaza Strip, According to Israel

Humanitarian Vehicle in Gaza City
An International Committee transport in the Gaza Strip. Image: 15 October 2025

Israel's military announced that a coffin of a deceased hostage has been transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip and is now en route to Israeli forces within the region.

Through a statement on social media, the IDF urged the public to show respect and wait for formal confirmation, which will first be provided with the relatives.

It stressed that the Palestinian group was obligated to return all the deceased hostages in accordance with a truce deal for Gaza.

This follows an previous Hamas statement that it would transfer the body of an Israeli captive on that day.

The group this week returned the remains of several of the twenty-eight deceased captives in the territory, and released all 20 living hostages.

There has been fury in Israel that the organization has not handed over all remains in line with last week's ceasefire deal – although the US has minimized the idea that it amounts to a breach.

In its posts on X on Friday evening, the Israeli military gave no further details on the location the remains would be taken after its handover by the humanitarian organization.

Meanwhile, media outlets reported that a brief service – led by a army chaplain – would be held in the region, and the remains would then be taken to the city for identification.

The Palestinian faction has stated it was still dedicated to the ceasefire, including eagerness to hand over all remaining corpses.

The Palestinian group claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of hindering its ability to locate hostages' remains by preventing heavy machinery and excavators into the area.

Speaking at a memorial for those killed of the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack, Netanyahu said he was resolved to ensure the recovery of the deceased captives still in the strip, and that the nation would continue to fight terrorism with full force.

As part of the truce agreement mediated by the former US president, Israeli authorities released two hundred fifty detainees in Israeli jails and 1,718 individuals from Gaza.

Following Hamas said it was not able to retrieve all the bodies, advisors to the former president said arrangements to advance to the subsequent stage of the agreement were ongoing.

They told reporters that the US government did not at this time believe Hamas had violated the deal by not retrieving more remains, and said the faction had acted in good faith by providing details with interlocutors.

Although the complete details of the accord between Israeli officials and Hamas has not been made public, an unofficial copy which surfaced in media seemed to permit the chance that not all of the bodies would be readily available.

The Israeli military initiated a operation in the region in response to the attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.

At least sixty-seven thousand nine hundred sixty-seven people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the health authorities in Gaza, whose data are seen by the UN as reliable.

Brian Buchanan
Brian Buchanan

A passionate chef and food writer with over a decade of experience in creating innovative dishes and sharing culinary stories.

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