Israel's military has identified the bodies of two hostages returned by Hamas on Tuesday as Aryeh Zalmanovich and Master Sergeant Tamir Adar. The return of their remains is part of the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire deal earlier this month, under which Hamas has transferred 15 out of 28 deceased Israeli hostages.
Details on Hostages
Mr. Zalmanovich, 85 at the time of his death, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity on November 17, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated, while mr. Adar, 38 when he died, was a member of Nir Oz's community security squad and was killed while fighting Hamas gunmen during the October 7 attack. Their coffins were handed over to Israeli troops in the Palestinian territory by the Red Cross, which had received them from Hamas, while the coffins, escorted by the military, have crossed into Israel and will undergo formal identification in Tel Aviv.
The IDF stressed that Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the deceased hostages. There has been outrage in Israel that Hamas has not yet returned all the deceased hostages. The Palestinian group claims it's trying to do so but faces difficulty finding bodies under the rubble of buildings bombed out by the IDF in Gaza, while hamas previously handed over a Palestinian body in a prior hostage transfer, attributing it to difficulties in locating the correct remains.
Hamas's Role and Challenges
Ceasefire Agreement and Aftermath
Under the ceasefire and hostage release agreement, Israel has freed 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza, returning 15 bodies of Palestinians for every Israeli hostage's remains. The first phase of the agreement also saw an increase of aid into Gaza, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a halt in fighting, although deadly violence flared up over the weekend as both sides accused one another of breaching the terms of the deal. The IDF launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023, attack,. In which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage. More than 68,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
