Israel Receives Remains of 2 Additional Hostages After Saying Earlier Body Was Not a Hostage

Israel said on Oct. 15 that it received two additional hostage bodies from Hamas, hours after the terror group handed over a body that the Israeli military said was not identified by forensics as a hostage.

The Red Cross transferred the coffins carrying the remains from Gaza. Once they arrived in Israel, the remains were sent to a forensic lab in Tel Aviv. The military said in a statement that the identities of the bodies have not been verified.

Earlier in the day, Israel released the identities of three deceased hostages that had been handed over by Hamas a day earlier, and said a fourth body transferred by the terrorist group did not match any of the hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the bodies were those of Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi, Uriel Baruch, and Eitan Levy.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Nimrodi was kidnapped alive and killed while in captivity at age 18. Baruch and Levy were killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and their bodies were taken to the Gaza Strip.

The IDF has notified the families of the three men, following the completion of the identification process.

The military also stated that the fourth body handed over to Israel was not one of the hostages.

“Following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages,” the IDF statement reads. “Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages.”

The announcements came two days after 20 living Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip for more than two years were released by Hamas on Oct. 13 as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan. The agreement also calls for the return of 28 deceased Israeli hostages.

“Hamas is required to fulfill its part of the agreement and make the necessary efforts to return all the hostages to their families and to a dignified burial,” the IDF stated on Oct. 15.

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said on Oct. 15 that Israel is standing firm on the requirement for Hamas to return all hostages.

“[Netanyahu] made it clear that the mission is not complete yet, as Israel is committed to bringing back all of the fallen hostages that are still being held inside of the Gaza Strip,” she said.

Bedrosian also said journalists seeking to enter the Gaza Strip should contact the IDF directly.

Hazem Qassem, a spokesperson for Hamas, said on the Telegram messaging app on Oct. 15 that the group was working to return the hostages’ bodies as part of its commitment to the peace deal.

In response to concerns that Hamas was handing over the remains of the dead hostages more slowly than agreed, the Israeli military said it would cut aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip.

Trump has also called for the return of the deceased hostages, writing on Truth Social that “the dead have not been returned, as promised.”

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Oct. 15 called for the elimination of Hamas.

“Enough with the disgrace,” he said in a post on X. “Moments after opening the gates to hundreds of trucks, Hamas quickly reverted to its well-known tactics—lying, deceiving, and abusing families and bodies. Nazi terrorism understands only force, and the only way to solve problems with it is to wipe it off the face of the earth.”

U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper on Oct. 15 urged Hamas to halt attacks against civilians in the Gaza Strip, calling it “an historic opportunity for peace.”

“We strongly urge Hamas to immediately suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza—in both Hamas-held parts of Gaza and those secured by the IDF behind the Yellow Line,” Cooper said in a statement.

He said Hamas should “seize” the opportunity “by fully standing down,” adhering to Trump’s 20-point peace plan, and “disarming without delay.”

According to Cooper, Washington had conveyed its concerns to the mediators and they had agreed to work together to enforce the peace and protect civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Zikim Beach and Rafah Border

As part of Trump’s peace deal, the 20 living hostages were exchanged for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The war in the Gaza Strip has raged since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing more than 250 hostages.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 67,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since the conflict began two years ago. The figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians and includes some deaths from natural causes. The Epoch Times cannot verify this figure.

For the first time since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the IDF announced on Oct. 15 that Zikim Beach near Israel’s northern border with the Gaza Strip would be reopened to the public.

“The beach will open on Thursday, October 16, 2025,” the military stated. “The IDF views the opening of the beach as an additional step in the rehabilitation of the area, and therefore, every effort was made to ensure that the beach is opened to the public in the safest and most effective manner.”

Israel had threatened to keep the Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip shut on Oct. 14, citing Hamas’s failure to meet its obligations under the cease-fire agreement and hand over the bodies of all deceased hostages.

The reports followed a statement by European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who said the EU’s civilian mission to monitor the Rafah crossing would resume its work on Oct. 15.

The EU Border Assistance Mission in Rafah was set up in 2005 to oversee operations at the southern Gaza Strip border crossing with Egypt.

Reuters contributed to this report.