Identification process of hostage body underway after arrival at Institute of Forensic Medicine

The body of one of the three hostages still held captive in Gaza was handed over on Tuesday afternoon and is currently undergoing tests to determine its identity and cause of death. Hamas and Islamic Jihad handed over via the International Committee of the Red Cross a coffin containing the body of a hostage. He was transferred from the Red Cross to an IDF force in the Gaza Strip, and shortly after 7 p.m. arrived at the Forensic Medicine Institute in Abu Kabir. More than 100 residents of the Eshkol Regional Council and surrounding communities stood at the Gama junction to pay their respects as the convoy passed. The Health Ministry said the forensic center will work to determine the identity of the deceased as well as the cause and circumstances of death. “The medical staff — including forensic pathologists and laboratory personnel — are prepared to provide answers as quickly and sensitively as possible,” the ministry said in a statement. “These are highly sensitive moments for the returnees and their families, and we urge the public to respect their privacy.” PIJ said Monday it had found the body in the Nuseirat area, but until the joint statement, the group had not contacted the ICRC to coordinate the transfer. Israeli officials said earlier that the delay constituted a breach of the ceasefire agreement. “Islamic Jihad is stalling. Without consequences for such violations, they feel no urgency to return the body,” one official said. Before the terror groups’ announcement, the Prime Minister’s Office said Israel “views with severity the delay in immediately transferring the remains. This is another violation of the agreement. Israel demands the immediate return of the three slain hostages still held in Gaza.” Three hostage‑bodies remain in the Gaza Strip — Staff Sergeant Ran Guily, Dror Or, and Sudthisak Rinthalak. Under the agreement signed last month through mediators, the Palestinian terror organizations were supposed to return the bodies within a few days. Hamas claims that the enormous destruction caused by two years of fighting makes locating them difficult. On Monday, 11 days after the remains of the previous hostage, Meny Godard, were returned to Israel, Islamic Jihad said it had located another body after five days of searching. “We found today the corpse of one of the enemy’s captives during search and excavation in an area under Israeli army control in central Gaza,” the group’s military wing said. An Israeli official familiar with the issue said last week there was “a genuine effort and an authentic difficulty” in locating and returning the bodies. “At this stage, we do not believe the delay is intentional or deceptive,” the official said. Other Israeli officials, however, said they see a decline in Hamas’ motivation to comply with the agreement. They noted that while Hamas appears less willing than before to fulfill its commitments, the three remaining cases are “the most complex of all.”