Israel Receives Gaza Hostage Body From Hamas Again, Identified As Army

Illustration of the return of the hostages' bodies in Gaza to Israel. (Source: Israeli Police)

JAKARTA - The Israeli military has received another coffin containing the body of an Israeli hostage who died in a hostage-taking in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

According to the prime minister's office, the bodies were handed over through the Red Cross.

"The coffin of a dead hostage, escorted by IDF forces, has crossed the border to the State of Israel some time ago and is on its way to the National Forensic Medical Institute, where identification procedures will be carried out," the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said. November 5th.

Later, the prime minister's office announced that the bodies returned from Gaza tonight had been identified as the kidnapped and killed Sergeant Itay Chen (19) in the October 7, 2023 events, quoted by The Times of Israel.

Chen was the last hostage to be killed and detained in the Gaza Strip with American citizenship.

With his return, the bodies of the seven prisoners who died were still in Gaza, including the body of a soldier who died in the 2014 Israeli-Hamas war.

Israel and Hamas continue indirect negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar, the United States, and Turkey to resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip on October 6.

On October 9, the warring parties signed an agreement on the implementation of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.

The ceasefire took effect on October 10. On October 13, Hamas and other Palestinian groups released all 20 surviving hostages and handed over the bodies of four hostages who had died based on the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli side expressed their frustration that Hamas had only returned four of the 28 bodies of the dead hostages. Later, Hamas handed over several more bodies to Israel.

To date, Hamas has returned the bodies of 21 hostages who have died while seven others are still in Gaza.