Red Cross receives two coffins of deceased hostages in Gaza Strip, IDF says

Israel said Thursday that the Red Cross provided information indicating ‘two coffins of deceased hostages have been transferred into their custody and are on their way to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip.’

In its announcement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) repeated its demand that Hamas hand over the remains of all the deceased hostages.

Israel said earlier Thursday that it had received information indicating that the Red Cross is on its way to a meeting point in the central Gaza Strip to retrieve coffins containing the remains of deceased hostages from Hamas. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the coffins were on their way to Israel saying that ‘All of the hostages’ families have been updated accordingly, and our hearts are with them in this difficult hour. The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned.’

Netanyahu’s office said it would continue to provide updates ‘as necessary.’

On Tuesday, Fox News learned that a coffin handed over to Israel was assessed to contain the remains of a hostage whose body was already brought back to Israel for burial. The remains were later determined to be those of Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was first recovered in 2023.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that some of Tzarfati’s remains were returned in March 2024 and that in August 2024, Hamas published a photo of his body.

‘This is the third time we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son,’ Tzarfati’s family said in a statement. ‘The circle supposedly ‘closed’ back in December 2023, but it never truly closes. Since then, we have lived with a wound that constantly reopens, between memory and longing, between bereavement and mission.’

If the two coffins are confirmed to remain deceased hostages, there will still be another 11 whose remains are still in Gaza, possibly including two U.S. citizens, Itay Chen and Omer Neutra. So far, Israel has received the remains of 15 of the 28 deceased hostages.

The hostages whose remains have been returned include Aryeh Zalmanovich, Master Sergeant (Res.) Tamir Adar, Staff Sgt. Tal Haimi, Suntaya Akrasi, Ronen Tommy Engel, Eliyahu Margalit, Uriel Baruch, Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi, Eitan Levi, Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi, Guy Illuz, Bipin Joshi, Inbar Hayman and Sergeant Major Muhammad Al-Atresh.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.