Israel police say received presumed remains of one of last two Gaza hostages
A Red Cross convoy makes its way toward the border crossing with Israel in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Nov 25, 2025. (Photo: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
JERUSALEM: Israeli police said Tuesday (Dec 2) they had received the presumed remains of one of the last two deceased hostages in the Gaza Strip and were transporting them to the morgue for identification.
In a brief statement, the police said they were "currently escorting, with reverence, the coffin of the fallen hostage to the National Centre of Forensic Medicine".
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said earlier Tuesday that Israel had received through the Red Cross "findings that were handed over to an (Israeli military) and (security) force inside the Gaza Strip".
"Upon completion of the identification process, formal notification will be delivered to the family," the statement from Netanyahu's office said.
It did not specify whether what was discovered were the remains of one of the last two Gaza hostages - Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak - but said authorities were in "continuous contact" with their families.
Militants took 251 people hostage during Hamas's Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people and triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire that went into effect in October, Palestinian militants have handed over the last 20 living hostages, and so far the remains of 26 out of 28 deceased ones.
Hamas had not confirmed by Tuesday afternoon local time that it had handed the remains of a hostage over to Israel as it had done so on previous occasions.
A Hamas official told AFP that a team from the group's armed wing and that of Islamic Jihad - accompanied by the Red Cross - had been conducting search operations for several days in multiple areas, particularly in Jabalia and Beit Lahia in the north of the territory.
"A number of bodies were found under the rubble and are being examined," the official said, adding that search operations were ongoing and there was "no confirmation that any of these bodies found belong to an Israeli prisoner".
"The mediators were informed that if the two bodies are found, they will be handed over immediately to the Israeli side through the established mechanism," the official added.
