Hamas hands over remains of Israeli hostage to Red Cross, Israel says

Hamas handed over another coffin containing the remains of an Israeli hostage to the Red Cross, which in turn handed over the body to Israeli officials, the Israeli military announced Tuesday.

The Red Cross brought the coffin to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed. The remains are expected to be transferred to Israel, where a military rabbi will perform a military ceremony, Netanyahu’s office added.

After the ceremony, the National Forensic Medicine Center will carry out an identification, then the hostage’s family will receive a notification.

Hamas earlier said it had found the body of an Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza, Reuters reported. Hamas said the body was found in Shejaia, an eastern suburb of Gaza City, in an area still occupied by Israeli forces, after Israel allowed Hamas and International Committee of the Red Cross teams access to the site.

ISRAEL RECEIVES 2 MORE COFFINS OF GAZA HOSTAGES BY RED CROSS OPERATION AS IDENTIFICATION BEGINS

A Red Cross vehicle carries a body, after Hamas said it found the body of an Israeli soldier hostage on Tuesday and prepares to return it to Israel through the Red Cross, in Gaza City November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas (Reuters/Dawoud Abou Alkas)

This follows the release on Sunday of the bodies of three Israeli hostages, including American Omer Neutra.

The Red Cross will receive “several coffins of deceased hostages” in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF

Hamas had agreed, in accordance with the ceasefire, to hand over the remains of 28 dead hostages in exchange for the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants killed in the Gaza war.

The Red Cross carries the body of a deceased hostage, held in Gaza since the deadly Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, after being handed over by Hamas militants as part of a ceasefire and hostage and prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on October 30, 2025. (Ramadan Abed/Reuters)

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By Tuesday, Hamas had freed the remains of 20 hostages, eight of whom remained in Gaza.

Yael Kuriel of Fox News, Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.