Casket containing apparent remains of hostage is in en route to forensic institute for identification

The casket containing the apparent remains of a dead hostage has been brought out of the Gaza Strip by troops, the military says.

The body is now escorted by the police to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification, a process which officials have said may take up to two days.

Hamas did not provide the identity of the hostage it handed over.

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said earlier that it had handed over the body of the hostage, implying that it was being held by the terror group.

This appears to contradict Hamas’s claim that the body was retrieved yesterday.

If the body is confirmed to be a hostage, the remains of 15 dead hostages would still remain held in Gaza.