JERUSALEM, Nov 3 — Israel has confirmed today that the remains handed over by Hamas yesterday belonged to three hostages taken during the October 7, 2023 attacks.
The transfer was made under the Gaza ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Israel’s military said in a statement today.
“Following the completion of the identification process... representatives of the IDF informed the families of the hostages killed in action that their loved ones have been repatriated to Israel and identified,” the statement read.
The remains were identified as those of American-Israeli Captain Omer Neutra, 21, Corporal Oz Daniel, 19, and Colonel Assaf Hamami, 40, the highest-ranking officer killed by Hamas.
Hamas handed over the bodies on Sunday via the Red Cross, saying its fighters had found them “along the route of one of the tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip.”
At the time the truce began on October 10, Hamas was holding 48 hostages in Gaza, including 20 who were alive.
Since then, it has released the surviving hostages and begun returning the remains of 28 captives, though Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the process while the group cites difficulties in locating bodies under Gaza’s rubble. — AFP
