 "Israel says hostage's body released by Hamas not of IDF soldier: Whose remains are they?")
The fragile truce between Israel and Hamas is holding. However, tensions flared up again after Israel announced on Wednesday (October 15) that one of the four captives handed over by Hamas overnight was not a missing hostage.
While the Palestinian militant group claimed the remains were of a slain Israeli soldier captured last year, Israel has rejected this. The hostage handover is part of the US-backed peace deal after two years of war.
Let’s take a closer look.
Did Hamas hand over the wrong body?
Israel said that one of the four bodies it received from Hamas on Tuesday (October 14) night was not of a missing hostage.
“Following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. “Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages.”
According to the ceasefire agreement, Hamas will return the bodies of captives to Israel in exchange for those of 360 Palestinians killed in the war in Gaza.
Two Israeli sources told CNN that the remains in question seemed to be those of a Palestinian from Gaza. The second source said that, based on preliminary assessment, Hamas misidentified the body rather than deliberately sending the wrong one.
“We hope for the release of additional bodies later today,” the source said yesterday.
Three hostage bodies released by Hamas were identified via DNA testing as Israeli soldier Tamir Nimrodi, 18, Uriel Baruch, 35, and Eitan Levy, 53.
Body of 4th hostage was of…
According to an Al Jazeera source, Hamas claimed that the body belonged to an Israeli soldier captured and killed during a shootout in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp in May 2024.
At the time, Hamas military spokesman Abu Ubaida had said that its fighters deployed around one of Gaza’s largest refugee camps successfully attacked a group of Israeli soldiers operating in the area.
“Our fighters lured a Zionist force into an ambush inside a tunnel … The fighters withdrew after they left all members of the force dead, wounded and captured,” Ubaida told Al Jazeera.
Hamas even released a video showing its members dragging a bloodied body into a tunnel. The militant group published pictures of the deceased dressed in military fatigues and holding a rifle, reported Israel’s Ynetnews.
The IDF has repeatedly denied Hamas’ claims of an ambush, adding that all of its soldiers during the war have been accounted for. “The IDF clarifies that there is no incident of a soldier’s kidnapping,” the Israeli military said at the time.
As per the Times of Israel, the fourth body released by Hamas is that of a West Bank Palestinian man who was used by the Israeli military as a human shield in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian media had identified the man as Khalil Dawas, a Palestinian from the West Bank’s Aqabat Jabr camp, near Jericho, who had been detained by Israel in the past.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Ministry confirmed he had been detained by Israel in 2020 and was detained at Ofer Prison, reported Ynet. Locals from the Aqabat Jaber camp said he had not been spotted in Jericho for a while and was believed to be in Gaza.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, the man whose body was returned “operated alongside security forces in searches of underground tunnels” and was “killed by Hamas terrorists a year and a half ago.”
A 2024 investigation by Ynet found Dawas, a Palestinian civilian, was suspected of helping Israeli security forces. Residents of his refugee camp said he was seen as a controversial figure and accused of providing information on terrorists involved in attacks on Israelis.
“We saw his picture and it confirmed what many here suspected — that he had helped the IDF,” one resident said.
The Israeli military used Dawas as a human shield in Gaza, a prohibited practice that has become commonplace amid the war. Israeli soldiers send detained Palestinians to search buildings and tunnels before troops enter, putting their lives in danger, as per Times of Israel.
The IDF claims it bans the use of civilians as shields, and has opened investigations into several such cases.
Meanwhile, Hamas has also previously returned the wrong body to Israel. During a ceasefire deal in February this year, the militant group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
However, the body was identified as that of a Palestinian woman. Bibas’ body was returned a day later.
Why returning hostage remains is tough for Hamas
So far, Hamas has released the bodies of nine hostages: four on Monday, three on Tuesday and two more yesterday. As part of the ceasefire deal, Israel has freed the remains of 90 Palestinians.
In total, Israel is awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.
Hamas’ armed wing said Wednesday that the group honoured the ceasefire’s terms and released the remains of the hostages it had access to. It said it would need special recovery equipment to reach the remaining bodies promised under the agreement.
The group assured the US, via intermediaries, that it is making efforts to return the deceased hostages, two senior American advisers told Associated Press (AP).
The advisers added that they do not believe Hamas has violated the deal. Israel’s two-year war in Gaza has reduced swathes of the territory to rubble, which, officials say. has complicated the retrieval of the dead. One of the advisers added that debris and unexploded weapons further add to the difficulty.
Hamas has reportedly told mediators that some bodies are in areas controlled by Israeli troops.
The US is actively working through mediators to provide intelligence and logistical support to locate the remaining bodies in Gaza, many of which could be buried in rubble, CNN reported.
Israel threatens fragile truce over hostage handover
Israel has warned Hamas that it would not make concessions in receiving the remaining hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel “will not compromise” and called on Hamas to fulfil the requirements mentioned in the ceasefire deal about the return of hostages’ bodies.
Speaking on Tuesday, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s controversial far-right security minister, accused Hamas of “playing games” over the dead hostages.
He said: “Enough with the disgrace. Moments after opening the crossings to hundreds of trucks, Hamas very quickly returned to its known methods – to lie, to cheat and to abuse families and the bodies. This Nazi terror understands only force and the only way to deal with it is to erase it from the face of the earth.”
Ben Gvir urged Netanyahu to issue “a clear ultimatum to Hamas: if you do not immediately return all the bodies of our fallen and you continue with these delays, we will immediately halt all aid supplies entering the [Gaza] Strip”.
Defence Minister Israel Katz also threatened to resume fighting if Hamas did not honour the terms of the ceasefire.
With inputs from agencies
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