Islamic Jihad and Hamas militants stand next to a white body bag believed to contain the remains of an Israeli hostage

Israel says received presumed remains of Gaza hostage

03 Dec 2025, 10:52 · RTE.ie

Israel has announced that it had received hostage remains found in Gaza from the Red Cross, which were being transported to the morgue for identification.

It comes as the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, with both sides accusing each other of violating the terms.

Under the first phase of the deal - which came into effect in October - Palestinian militants were due to return all 48 hostages they held captive, 20 of whom were still alive.

All but the bodies of two hostages - Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak - have since been handed over, but Israel has accused Hamas of dragging their feet on returning remains.

"Israel has received, via the Red Cross, the coffin of a deceased hostage, which was delivered to (army) and Shin Bet (internal security service) forces in the Gaza Strip," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

"The coffin of the deceased hostage ... crossed the border into the State of Israel a short while ago and is on its way to the National Institute for Forensic Medicine, where identification procedures will be carried out," the Israeli army said in a statement.

The military did not specify whether what was discovered were the remains of one of the last two Gaza hostages but the premier's office said authorities were in "continuous contact" with their families.

Israeli police in a brief statement said they were "currently escorting, with reverence, the coffin of the fallen hostage to the National Centre of Forensic Medicine".

A Hamas official told AFP before the Israeli statement that a team from the two groups' armed wings had "found remains that are possibly those of an Israeli hostage" under the rubble in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.

AFP footage from northern Gaza showed masked militants from the two groups standing on the back of a truck with a stretcher covered with a white body bag.

Diggers were busy working to remove vast piles of rubble.

This morning, Mr Netanyahu's office said forensic tests showed remains retrieved from Gaza the day before were "not linked" to the last two dead hostages held in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli police said yesterday that they had received the presumed remains of one of the remaining hostages and escorted what they called "the coffin of the fallen hostage" to the forensic centre.

Hamas has blamed difficulties in finding the remains beneath the sea of rubble created by the two-year war with Israel.

Gaza remains in a deep humanitarian crisis despite the ceasefire which came into effect on 10 October.

Under the first phase of the deal brokered by US Presidennt Donald Trump, Palestinian militants have handed over the last 20 living hostages, and so far, the remains of 26 out of 28 deceased ones.

In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of dead Palestinians.

Militants took 251 people hostage during Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the devastating war and resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people.

Israel's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 70,117 people, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

The ministry says since the ceasefire came into effect, 360 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. Israel's military has reported three soldiers killed during the same period.

Israel says Rafah crossing will open soon

Gaza's main gateway will open in the next few days, Israel has said, allowing thousands of Palestinians who are in need of medical care to leave the war-ravaged enclave through Egypt.

COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees humanitarian matters, said the opening of the Rafah crossing will be coordinated with Egypt, under the supervision of the European Union mission, similar to a mechanism employed during a previous Gaza ceasefire agreed in January.

Under Mr Trump's 20-point plan that has largely halted the two-year war between Israel and Hamas militants, the crossing was to open in both directions.

Rubble left behind by Israeli attacks at Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza

Before the war, the Rafah crossing was the only direct exit point for most Palestinians in Gaza to reach the outside world and was a key entry point for aid into the territory. It has been mostly closed throughout the conflict.

At least 16,500 patients in Gaza are in need of medical care outside of the Palestinian territory, according to the United Nations. Some Gazans managed to leave for medical treatment abroad through Israel.

"We have been waiting for the Rafah opening for months," said Gaza businessman Tamer al-Burai, who needs treatment abroad for a respiratory condition.

"At last, I and thousands of other patients, may have a chance to receive proper treatment," Mr Burai told Reuters by phone from Gaza.

Israel has kept Rafah shut in both directions since the ceasefire came into effect in October, saying that Hamas must abide by the agreement to return all hostages still in Gaza, living and deceased.