Israeli authorities confirmed that the remains of a hostage returned the previous day from Gaza are of a Tanzanian agricultural student, who was taken captive by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in October 2023.
The development was the latest step forward under the US-brokered ceasefire, signed in October this year. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the remains were identified as those of Joshua Loitu Mollel, 21, and that his family has been notified.
Gaza damage hampers body recovery
There are now six bodies of hostages that remain in Gaza. Hamas has released 22 bodies of hostages since the ceasefire began last month. Among the six bodies still in Gaza is that of Sudthisak Rinthalak, an agricultural worker from Thailand, the only non-Israeli.
Hamas returned 20 living hostages to Israel on October 13. The subsequent exchanges of the dead are the central component of the initial phase of the deal, which requires Hamas to return all hostage remains as quickly as possible. The exchanges have gone ahead even as Israel and Hamas have accused each other of breaching other terms of the agreement.
Israel has handed over 285 Palestinian bodies, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which handles the exchanges.
Health officials in Gaza have said identifying the remains handed over by Israel is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits. Israel has not disclosed how many bodies it is holding or where they were recovered, but has been returning 15 each time the remains of an Israeli hostage are returned from Gaza.
Hamas has said that recovering bodies of Israeli hostages in Gaza is complicated by the widespread devastation in the Palestinian enclave and has returned one to three bodies every few days.
