IDF receives casket from Red Cross in Gaza apparently holding body of hostage
Remains taken to forensic institute for identification; if confirmed to belong to a captive, six slain hostages will remain in the Strip
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
A casket containing the apparent remains of a dead hostage held by Hamas was brought out of the Gaza Strip by troops Wednesday night.
Hamas handed over the remains to the Red Cross, which then transferred them to Israeli soldiers in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces inspected the casket before draping it in an Israeli flag and holding a short ceremony led by a military rabbi.
After leaving the Strip, the body was escorted by the police to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification, a process which officials said may take up to two days.
Hamas did not provide the identity of the hostage it handed over.
If the body is confirmed to belong to a hostage, it would mean that the remains of six hostages are still held in Gaza.
On Tuesday, Hamas returned the body of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, and two days before that it handed over the remains of fellow IDF soldiers Col. Asaf Hamami, Cpt. Omer Neutra and Staff Sgt. Oz Daniel.
The slain hostages still in Gaza are the last of those kidnapped in the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, 2023, along with Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed fighting Hamas in Gaza in 2014 and whose body has been held in the Strip since then.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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