IDF: Red Cross received casket from Hamas, is en route to Israeli troops in Gaza

By Emanuel Fabian

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

17 October 2025, 11:59 pm

1 Edit

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

A gunman wearing the uniform of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, stands guard as Red Cross vehicles enter a warehouse to collect coffins said to contain the bodies of four hostages, in Gaza City, October 14, 2025. (AP Photo/ Yousef Al Zanoun)

The IDF says the Red Cross has notified the military that it has collected a casket, with the apparent body of a slain hostage, from Hamas in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis a short while ago.

The Red Cross is now bringing the casket to IDF troops inside Gaza, where a small ceremony, led by a military rabbi, will be held.

The remains will then be taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

If confirmed to belong to a hostage, it would mean that 18 bodies of dead captives still remain held in Gaza.

Hamas did not identify the hostage whose body it handed over tonight.