Israel’s military has said the fourth body handed over by Hamas on Tuesday night doesn’t match any of the hostages.
In a statement, the IDF said Hamas is “required to make all necessary efforts” to return the bodies of hostages.
Earlier, Israel confirmed after formal identification that the other bodies returned last night were those of Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi .
Here’s what we know about them.
- Uriel Baruch: The35 year old was abducted from the Nova music festival. According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the father-of-two’s family were informed by the Israeli military in March 2024 that he was killed on 7 October 2023 and that his body was taken back to Gaza as a hostage
- Tamir Nimrodi: The 20 year old was serving as an education officer at the Erez Crossing on 7 October 2023. The last time his mother saw him was in a video of his abduction posted on social media that day. His fate was unknown until his body was handed over. After his remains were formally identified, Tamir’s family said that he had been “murdered in Hamas captivity”
- Eitan Levi: The 53 year oldwas a taxi driver from Bat Yam. He was killed by Hamas gunmen on a road close to the Gaza perimeter on 7 October 2023, while driving a friend to Be’eri. The father-of-one’s body was then taken to Gaza, where Palestinians were filmed beating and kicking it
Donald Trump’s peace plan required Hamas to return all of the hostages, living and dead, by the end of a 72-hour deadline which expired on Monday.
Eight bodies have been returned – seven of which Israel says belong to hostages – with another 20 yet to be handed over by Hamas.
The group has previously said it could struggle to locate all of the remains.
Meanwhile, an interview with CBS News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is hopeful for peace in the next phase of the ceasefire deal, but that under the conditions of Trump’s plan “all hell breaks lose” if Hamas doesn’t disarm.
“I hope it doesn’t,” Netanyahu said. “I hope we can do this peacefully. We’re certainly ready to do so.”
“First, Hamas has to give up its arms,” Netanyahu said. “And second, you want to make sure that there are no weapons factories inside Gaza. There’s no smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That’s demilitarisation.”
