11 Hostage Bodies Remain Unreturned
Mistaken Repatriation of Non-Hostage Remains Continues
The Times of Israel reported on November 1 (local time) that the body handed over to Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas under a ceasefire agreement was confirmed not to be that of an Israeli hostage who had died.
On the 28th of last month (local time), Hamas militants were found carrying bodies from a pit in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip. Photo by AP Yonhap News Agency
Israel announced that, after analyzing the DNA of the three bodies received from Hamas the previous day through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), none matched the 11 hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
On November 9 of last month, Hamas agreed to a ceasefire with Israel on the condition that all surviving and deceased hostages would be released. While all 20 surviving hostages have been freed, only 17 out of the 28 deceased hostages' bodies have been repatriated to Israel.
On October 27 of last month, it was also determined that a body handed over by Hamas to Israel was not that of a hostage, but rather a partial body part of Ofir Charpati, who had already been recovered in December 2023.
Israel judged that Hamas had deliberately violated the ceasefire agreement and carried out airstrikes across the Gaza Strip from the 28th until the following day. Hamas reported that 104 people were killed during that period.
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