Israeli Hostages

Israel Receives Gaza Hostage Body

Israel has received the body of a hostage from the Red Cross in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Wednesday night. The captive's coffin, handed over to the military and internal security service, "will be transferred to Israel, where it will be received with a military ceremony" before being ...

Israel Says Returned Hostage Remains Are Those of Seized Soldier

Israel confirmed Wednesday that the remains handed over by Hamas the day before belonged to Israeli-American soldier Itay Chen, who was seized by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war. The remains were returned by Hamas on Tuesday evening as part of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal brokered by US President ...

Israel Army Says Gaza Bodies Received Friday Not Hostages

Israel's military said Saturday that three bodies it received from Gaza via the Red Cross the previous night were not hostages held in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military told AFP that a forensic analysis revealed the bodies were not those of any of the 11 deceased captives still to be handed over as part of a US-brokered ceasefire ...

Israel Says Received Bodies of Two Gaza Hostages from Red Cross

Israel said its security forces in the Gaza Strip had received the remains of two hostages from the Red Cross returned on Thursday as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal. "Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the bodies of two hostages that were handed over to the Israeli army and Shin Bet forces inside the Gaza Strip," a ...

Israel Says Received Two Gaza Hostage Bodies from Red Cross

Israel said its security forces in the Gaza Strip received the remains of two hostages from the Red Cross on Tuesday, returned as part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal. "Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffins of two hostages who were killed, which were handed over to an [Israeli military] and Shin Bet force inside the Gaza ...

Israel Identifies Dead Hostage Returned on Friday

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Saturday that the body of a deceased hostage Hamas returned overnight has been identified as 75-year-old Eliyahu Margalit. The Israeli military "informed the family of the abductee Eliyahu Margalit... that (the body of) their loved one has been returned to Israel and his identification ...

Trump Says 'We Will Disarm' Hamas, Urges Return of Gaza Bodies

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that "we will disarm" Hamas if the Palestinian militants refuse to do it themselves, as he called for the group to release the bodies of hostages in Gaza. Trump's comments came the day after he swung through the Middle East to celebrate the Gaza ceasefire deal, with questions swirling about the ...

Israel Forum Says It Is Concerned for Gaza Hostages after Doha Strikes

The main Israeli group campaigning for the release of hostages held in Gaza expressed "deep concern" following an Israeli attack on Tuesday on Hamas's leadership in Qatar, which has been mediating ceasefire talks. "The families of the hostages are following the developments in Doha with deep concern and heavy anxiety. A grave fear now hangs over ...

US Envoy Meets Israeli Hostage Families in Tel Aviv

US envoy Steve Witkoff met anguished relatives of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza on Saturday, as fears for the captives' survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack. Witkoff was greeted with some applause and pleas for assistance from hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv before going into a ...

Palestinian Official Says Hamas Agrees to Gaza Proposal, Israel Dismisses It

Conflicting statements emerged Monday after a Palestinian official claimed that Hamas had accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal attributed to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff—an assertion later denied by both Israel and Witkoff himself. A Palestinian official close to Hamas told Reuters that the group had agreed to a proposal received through ...

Hamas Says Gaza Aid Block Impacts Israeli Hostages

Hamas accused Israel Saturday of "committing the war crime of collective punishment" by halting aid to Gaza for a seventh day, saying it also impacted Israeli hostages still held there. On Sunday, Israel announced it was blocking aid deliveries to Gaza until Palestinian militants accepted its terms for an extension of the ceasefire which had ...