Israeli Military Confirms Body Returned by Hamas is Not a Hostage

The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that one of the remains handed over by Hamas, as part of a ceasefire agreement, was not a hostage previously held in Gaza.

Hamas had been instructed to return a total of 48 remaining hostages, as outlined in the initial phase of a peace plan for Gaza facilitated by former President Donald Trump. To date, they have returned 20 live hostages and the remains of seven others for burial.

According to a report, the names of the three bodies given back on Tuesday night are Tamir Nimrodi, Eitan Levy, and Uriel Baruch, but it has been confirmed that one of these is not among those taken by Hamas.

This determination was made following an analysis at the National Forensic Laboratory, which revealed that the fourth body does not correspond to any of the known hostages, as stated by the military. The identity of this body remains uncertain.

Israel is still expecting to receive the remains of 28 deceased hostages. Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Hamas to comply with the terms of the ceasefire regarding the return of bodies.

Netanyahu emphasized, “We will not compromise on this and we will not stop working until the last deceased hostage is returned, until every individual remains accounted for.”

This is not the first instance of Hamas returning the incorrect body to Israel. Earlier this year, during a previous ceasefire, the group claimed they had returned the remains of a woman and her two children, only for it to later be revealed that one of the bodies belonged to a Palestinian woman. The correct identification of the mother’s body was confirmed the following day.