The Prime Minister's Office announced the IDF has received a deceased hostage retrieved from Gaza by the Red Cross, following the announcement by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas that they had located the body. As per protocol, the deceased hostage will be transferred to the National Center for Forensic Medicine for identification.
According to Israeli security officials, Hamas could immediately return another of the remaining deceased hostages if it chose to, and another within days.
Video: Teams moving in Gaza ahead of search for deceased hostages. Credit: Arab media
Regarding two additional deceased hostages, Israel assesses that Hamas does not know their location. Still, in recent weeks, Israel has come to learn that Hamas holds information about deceased hostages Israel believed the terrorist organization did not know the whereabouts of. Therefore, Israel's unequivocal demand from Hamas now is to return all deceased hostages.
The remaining deceased hostages are Dror Or, Ran Gvili, Meny Godard, and foreign citizen Sudthisak Rinthalak.
