Israel Receives Coffin Believed to Contain Remains of Gaza Hostage

Israel has received a coffin from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), purportedly containing the body of one of the last two deceased hostages held in Gaza, according to the Israeli prime minister's office. The remains will be transferred to Israel's National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification.

PIJ's military wing announced earlier that it had found a hostage's body in northern Gaza. This handover follows a previous instance where remains received from Hamas did not belong to either of the dead hostages.

The two men are identified as Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old Israeli police officer, and Suthisak Rintalak, a 43-year-old Thai agricultural worker. Both were killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and their bodies were subsequently taken to Gaza.

Under the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal, effective October 10, Hamas agreed to return 20 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 28 dead Israeli and foreign hostages within 72 hours. All living hostages were released on October 13 in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

To date, the remains of 23 dead Israeli hostages have been handed over, along with those of three foreign hostages—one Thai, one Nepalese, and one Tanzanian. In return, Israel has handed over the bodies of 345 Palestinians killed during the conflict.

Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the hostages' bodies, while Hamas insists it is struggling to locate them under the rubble. This slow progress has stalled the second phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, which includes governance of Gaza, withdrawal of Israeli troops, disarmament of Hamas, and reconstruction efforts.

The two deceased hostages still in Gaza were among the 251 people abducted by Hamas and its allies on October 7, 2023, during an attack that resulted in approximately 1,200 other deaths. Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 70,100 people have been killed, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.