Israel says remains handed over by Hamas are not those of Gaza hostages

Hostage remains handed over by Hamas on Tuesday were found not to belong to the last two Israeli captives in Gaza, according to the office of Israel’s prime minister, after forensic teams completed their examination.

Hamas handed over remains on Tuesday that the Red Cross described as belonging to one of the last two deceased hostages still in Gaza, in line with commitments made under a U.S.-backed October ceasefire agreement.

Israeli forces said they transferred the remains, which they referred to as “findings”, for forensic examination.

“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 on Wednesday, adding that the identification was carried out at the National Center for Forensic Medicine.

The two deceased hostages whose bodies have yet to be recovered are Israeli police officer Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, both abducted during Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered two years of conflict in Gaza.

Later on Wednesday, the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas-allied Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, said it was searching in northern Gaza for the body of a hostage together with a Red Cross team, without specifying which of the two it was seeking.

The Geneva-based Red Cross has served as an intermediary between Gaza’s militant factions and Israel throughout the conflict, facilitating the release of living hostages and the handover of remains.

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