Casket with apparent hostage’s body returned to Israel, as final 2 families await ID
Forensic testing underway to determine if remains belong to Ran Gvili or Sudthisak Rinthalak; Hamas, PIJ say body was found in northern Gaza earlier Wednesday
The Red Cross transferred the body of a presumed hostage from Hamas to Israeli security forces in Gaza on Wednesday evening, as the families of the final two deceased hostages held in the Strip await the return of their loved ones for burial after over two years in captivity.
After the casket was handed over, it was brought into Israeli territory and taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups did not provide the identity of the hostage they handed over, which they said was found in a joint search effort conducted in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya earlier Wednesday.
If the body is confirmed to belong to a hostage, it would mean that the remains of one hostage are still held in Gaza — either police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili or Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.
Gvili and Rinthalak were among the 251 hostages taken on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
The bodies of 26 deceased hostages have been returned to Israel gradually, without any assurances or fixed timeline, over the course of the past seven weeks, as part of the US-brokered ceasefire that halted the war.
Hamas on Tuesday transferred forensic remains, which were said to include “small remains, pieces” of a body, though after testing by the Abu Kabir forensic institute, Israel said they did not belong to either Gvili or Rinthalak.
The first phase of the deal, delineated in the October 9 ceasefire agreement, includes the return of all hostages, living and dead. The rest of the US-backed plan, which has not been formally agreed on, would see Israeli troops withdraw further from Gaza as Hamas disarms and hands control over to a transitional governing body and multinational peacekeeping force.
Hamas has so far refused to agree on the matter of demilitarization, and few countries have volunteered for the multinational force meant to oversee the Strip’s security.
Qatar, which has mediated talks between Israel and Hamas, said Tuesday that it hopes the two sides can be brought to a new phase of negotiations for a peace deal in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.