Israel announced on Monday that the body of another deceased hostage from Gaza was handed over by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the Israeli military, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. If confirmed, this recovery would reduce the number of hostages whose remains are still believed to be in Gaza to twelve. The Palestinian militant group Hamas has claimed that ongoing difficulties in locating the bodies—largely due to the destruction from months of intense fighting—have hindered further recoveries.
Earlier the same day, the armed wing of Hamas said it had found the body of a deceased hostage in Gaza and planned to transfer it to the Red Cross. The process of recovering and returning the bodies of Israeli hostages has become one of the key challenges to advancing U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, which seeks to stabilize the region through coordinated humanitarian and security measures.
An Israeli government spokesperson stated on Sunday that Hamas was aware of the locations of several of the bodies still missing. In an effort to accelerate recovery operations, Israel granted entry to an Egyptian technical team working in coordination with the Red Cross. The Egyptian team has been using excavators and trucks to aid in the search beyond the so-called “yellow line,” an area inside Gaza from which Israeli forces have partially withdrawn under Trump’s proposal.
The ongoing recovery operations highlight both the humanitarian and political tensions surrounding Gaza, where efforts to retrieve the bodies have been intertwined with broader negotiations over ceasefires and long-term regional security.