Israel has received a body said to be of another deceased hostage from Gaza as it gathers intelligence on the location of the longest-held remains, according to two Israeli sources.
Hamas transferred what it said were the remains of a deceased hostage to Israel via the Red Cross on Wednesday night, marking the third such transfer this week. The remains will be taken to the national forensics lab for identification. If confirmed, that would leave the bodies of six deceased hostages remaining in Gaza.
On Tuesday evening, the body of Itay Chen, the last Israeli-American citizen held in Gaza, were returned to Israel. On Sunday, Israel received the remains of three other hostages, including Israeli-American citizen Omer Neutra.
Israel also believes it has new information about the location of the longest-held remains in Gaza, two Israeli sources told CNN. The remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed in the final days of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, are likely held in Rafah in southern Gaza, the sources said, near an area where up to 200 Hamas militants are hiding in an underground tunnel in territory occupied by Israel.
However, contrary to reports in the Israeli media, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that it had “no information” that Goldin’s body was being held in the tunnel itself with the Hamas operatives.
CNN previously reported that Israel was weighing an Egyptian proposal that would grant safe passage to the militants to Hamas-held territory in Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet made a decision. An Israeli security official said he would decide on the issue at a later stage.
Netanyahu acknowledged these isolated Hamas cells publicly for the first time on Sunday when he said, “There are still Hamas pockets in the areas under our control in Gaza, and we are systematically eliminating them. There are two in Rafah and in Khan Younis, and they will be eliminated.”
Goldin is the only deceased hostage who was taken before October 7, 2023. On Wednesday morning, Goldin’s brother said on social media, “It is forbidden to allow the 200 any passage until the return of Hadar and the remaining hostages … Any concession would be an abandonment.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
