Hamas Transfers Remains of Alleged Last Gaza Hostage: A Significant Development in Middle East Tensions

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Key Points

Israel received a body that Hamas says belongs to one of the last two deceased hostages in Gaza.
Returning the final hostage bodies is a key condition of the first phase of the plan to end the Gaza war.
Hamas and Israel have both traded blame for violating the US-backed agreement.

Israel has received a body that Hamas said was one of the last two deceased hostages in the Gaza Strip, as Israel said it would allow Gaza’s gateway to Egypt to open once all hostages were returned.

A body has been transferred by the Red Cross to the Israeli military and will undergo forensic identification, a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

Hamas also handed over remains on Tuesday, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said were not of any hostage.

The handover of the last hostages’ bodies in Gaza would complete a key condition of the initial part of United States President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, which also provides for the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to open in both directions.

Since the October ceasefire, Israel has maintained the closure of the crossing, insisting that Hamas fulfills the terms of the agreement by returning all hostages from Gaza, both alive and deceased.

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters: “The crossing will be opened both ways when all of our hostages have been returned.”

Since the truce deal came into effect, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and 26 bodies in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, but two more deceased captives are still in Gaza.

Israel has continued to strike Gaza and conduct demolitions against what it says is Hamas infrastructure. Hamas and Israel have traded blame for violating the US-backed agreement.

The Gaza health ministry reports that Israeli forces have killed 357 Palestinians during the first 50 days of the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities state that Palestinian militants have killed three Israeli soldiers in this period.

In northern Gaza, the Al Quds Brigades, the armed faction linked to the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Islamic Jihad, announced the discovery of a hostage’s body. This search was carried out alongside a Red Cross team.

According to Bedrosian, the decision to open the crossing for those wishing to exit Gaza was reached through “full coordination” with the mediators between Israel and Hamas during the conflict.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they had handed over the body to the Red Cross late on Wednesday afternoon. The groups did not say which of the two remaining deceased hostages they believed it to be.

The two are Israeli police officer Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, both kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

COGAT, the Israeli military arm that oversees humanitarian matters, said the Rafah crossing would be opened in the coming days to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt.

The decision to open the crossing for those seeking to leave Gaza was made in “full coordination” with those who have mediated between Israel and Hamas during the war, Bedrosian said.

Egypt, along with Qatar and the US, has acted as a mediator.

COGAT said it would be opened under the supervision of a European Union mission — a similar mechanism to that employed during a previous Gaza ceasefire agreed in January 2025.

At least 16,500 patients in Gaza require medical care outside of the enclave, according to the United Nations. Some Gazans have managed to leave for medical treatment abroad through Israel.