Netanyahu’s office reported that “the tests confirmed that the remains received by Israel from Hamas yesterday do not belong to either of the two remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip,” without further details. The Israeli army confirmed on Tuesday that it received “samples of remains” from Palestinian militants in Gaza through the Red Cross. Netanyahu’s office published that the country received from the Red Cross “samples of remains” believed to be those of one of the two remaining hostages. The Israeli government stated that the samples will be sent for examination, while remains of a Thai and an Israeli person are still in Gaza, according to them.
Last week, the “Al-Quds Brigades,” the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, announced the discovery of the remains of one of the three remaining Israeli detainees in the Gaza Strip. This development comes in the context of a prisoner exchange deal conducted within the framework of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, dated October 10th. During this, Palestinian factions released 20 Israeli prisoners alive and the remains of 27 others out of 28, as announced by the factions.
The agreement came into effect on October 10, 2025, and on the 13th of the same month, US President Donald Trump, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a declaration regarding the stabilization of the ceasefire in Gaza. Under the agreement, the movement released 20 individuals who survived the events of October 7, 2023, in exchange for Israel releasing about 2,000 Palestinian detainees from Gaza, including those sentenced to long periods.
