Israel says one body returned by Hamas not former hostage
Three of the four bodies of Israeli hostages have been identified
The Israeli military said Wednesday that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners was not a former hostage.
After overnight forensic tests on four bodies returned on Tuesday, the army said medical officials concluded that one body "does not match any of the hostages".
"Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages," the military warned.
The other three bodies have been identified, their families said on Wednesday following forensic confirmation of their identities.
The families of former Gaza hostages Ouriel Baruch, Eitan Levy and Tamir Nimrodi, posted statements on social media after Israel's forensic research laboratory confirmed the identities.
The remains were transferred to the Red Cross and then returned to Israel, the latest step in implementing a ceasefire deal after two years of war in Gaza.
"It is with immense sadness and pain that we announce the return of the body of our beloved Ouriel Baruch from the Gaza Strip, after two long years of prayer, hope, and faith," said the family of the Jerusalem resident who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, at the Nova festival at the age of 35.
Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levy's relatives also announced the return of their remains to Israel.
"It is with a broken heart and unbearable grief that we announce that the body of Tamir, my eldest and beloved son, was brought back from Gaza (yesterday)", Tamir's father Alon Nimrodi wrote on Facebook.
Tamir was a soldier captured at age 18 from a military base on the border with Gaza.
Eitan Levy's family announced the return of the remains of the 53-year-old cab driver who was killed after dropping off a friend at Kibbutz Beeri on the morning of the Hamas attack. His remains were taken into Gaza the same day.
Israel's television channel 12 Wednesday said that the remains of the fourth hostage returned Tuesday were that of a Gaza resident, which authorities did not immediately confirm.
Since Monday, under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has handed back 20 surviving Israeli hostages and eight bodies -- one Nepalese, six Israelis and a now unidentified eighth.
Separately, a Gaza hospital said it had received the remains of 45 Palestinians handed back by Israel.
News that one set of remains was not of someone on Israel's 28-name list of deceased former hostages will increase domestic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to restrict aid access to Gaza.