Families warn remains of deceased Gaza hostages at risk of being lost forever

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum warns that the bodies of deceased captives held in Gaza are “at risk of complete disappearance,” publishing a special medical report.

The report says that the remains of the deceased hostages “could become unrecoverable, making it impossible to locate them or return them for burial.”

The report cites two key reasons for the warning. First is the fact that the whereabouts of the hostages’ remains are known “only to a few individuals who may be killed or disappear during the fighting, without leaving any documented record.”

Secondly, the report says, the conditions in the Strip, such as extreme heat, flooding and collapsed buildings, could “compromise the integrity of the remains and complicate their identification.”

According to Israel, terrorists in the Gaza Strip are holding the remains of 35 hostages, all but one kidnapped during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.