Israel says remains Hamas handed over not those of last two Gaza hostages

JERUSALEM - Israeli forensic services concluded that remains handed over by Hamas on Dec 2 were not those of the last two hostages in Gaza, the Office of Israel’s Prime Minister said.

Under the terms of the October ceasefire deal, Hamas had handed over remains described by the Red Cross as those of one of the last two deceased hostages still in Gaza.

Israeli forces said they sent for forensic testing the remains they described as “findings”.

“The findings brought yesterday for examination from the Gaza Strip are not linked to any of the deceased hostages,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Dec 3.

The identification had been made at the National Center for Forensic Medicine, it added.

The Al Quds Brigades – the armed wing of the Hamas-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement – said later on Dec 3 that it was searching for a body of a hostage in northern Gaza, along with a team from the Red Cross.

It did not say which of the two remaining deceased hostages it was searching for.

The two remaining deceased hostages are Israeli police officer Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, both kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel that touched off two years of devastating war in Gaza.

The Geneva-based Red Cross has acted as an intermediary between Gaza militant groups and Israel throughout the war triggered by Hamas’ attack, helping to pave the way for the release of living hostages and the handover of remains. REUTERS