Israel receives remains of 2 more hostages as military says another body was not that of a hostage
Sam Metz, Samy Magdy And Wafaa Shurafa | about 4 hours agoJERUSALEM (AP) — Israel received the remains of two more hostages Wednesday, hours after the Israeli military said that one of the bodies previously turned over was not that of a hostage. The confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.
The coffins carrying the remains were transferred by the Red Cross from Hamas. Upon returning to Israel, they were sent to a forensic lab in Tel Aviv. The military in a statement cautioned that the hostages’ identities had yet to be verified.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in implementation of the ceasefire agreement. That brought to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains said they showed signs of mistreatment.
As part of the deal, four bodies of hostages were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday, following four on Monday that were returned hours after the last 20 living hostages were released from Gaza. In all, Israel has been awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.
The Israeli military said forensic testing showed that "the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages." There was no immediate word on whose body it was. . . .
. . . . This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to Israel. During a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who were among those taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted.
Testing in February 2025 showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Bibas’ body was returned a day later. . .
https://www.torontotoday.ca/world-news/israel-receives-remains-of-2-more-hostages-as-military-says-another-body-was-not-that-of-a-hostage-11348448