Yesterday, the Red Cross received remains of a body from Hamas, which were taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv. Now, The Times of Israel reports that the Prime Minister’s Office has announced that testing is complete and that the remains belong to neither of the remaining hostages in Gaza – Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak. Searches by Hamas and the Red Cross to locate the actual remains are expected to continue.
Gvili and Rinthalak were among the 251 hostages taken on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern communities, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
The bodies of 26 deceased hostages have been returned to Israel gradually, without any assurances or fixed timeline, over the course of the past seven weeks, as part of the US-brokered ceasefire that halted the war.
The first phase of the deal, delineated in the October 9 ceasefire agreement, includes the return of all hostages, living and dead. The rest of the US-backed plan, which has not been formally agreed on, would see Israeli troops withdraw further from Gaza as Hamas disarms and hands control over to a transitional governing body and multinational peacekeeping force.
It’s also been reported that Hamas is relinquishing a coffin containing remains that may belong to one of the two hostages today. Both Gvili and Rinthalak were murdered by the terror group on October 7 and had their bodies stolen and held for over two years. Meanwhile, the victims’ families are being constantly updated and contacted by the Public Health Service regarding their lost loved ones.
Even with talks of the second phase of the ceasefire that would see Hamas disarmed and removed from Gaza, the return of the remaining hostages remains the core of the agreement, as the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said this past weekend. The Fellowship stands with them in solidarity and joins our generous supporters in prayer for these families who have endured so much hardship and suffering.
