Israel has accused Hamas of faking the discovery of hostage remains, claiming the group sent back body parts belonging to a captive who was already returned to Israel nearly two years ago.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the partial remains handed over by Hamas on Monday night did not match any of the 13 deceased hostages still believed to be in Gaza.
‘After completing the identification process this morning, it was found that the remains returned last night belonged to fallen hostage Ofir Tzarfati, who was brought back from Gaza in a military operation about two years ago,’ the statement said.
It added that the move ‘constitutes a clear violation of the agreement’ and that Mr Netanyahu would meet senior defence officials to discuss Israel’s response.
A Hamas official told Al Jazeera the body had been found on Monday in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood and was handed over around 9pm – roughly two hours before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump for the group to return remains.
But, despite Hamas’s claims, IDF soldiers operating in the area say they witnessed terrorists staging the recovery of the body.
According to the troops who spoke to Arutz Sheva, the terrorists placed the body in a hole that they had dug, and called the Red Cross as if they had just located it.
Tzarfati was abducted from the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023, before being murdered.
His body was recovered at the end of November 2023 and brought to burial in Israel.
In March 2024, additional remains of Tzarfati were returned for burial in Israel. Then, in August of that year, Hamas published a photograph of his body.
‘We went to sleep last night with anticipation and hope that another family would close an agonising two-year circle and bring their loved one home for burial,’ the Tzarfati family wrote in a statement.
‘But once again, deception has been inflicted upon our family as we try to heal.
‘This morning we were shown video footage of our beloved son’s remains being removed, buried, and handed over to the Red Cross – an abhorrent manipulation designed to sabotage the deal and abandon the effort to bring all the hostages home.’
The family added: ‘This is the third time we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son.
‘The circle supposedly ‘closed’ back in December 2023, but it never truly closes. Since then, we have lived with a wound that constantly reopens, between memory and longing, between bereavement and mission.’
The Tzarfati family urged the public to support the families who were still waiting for their loved ones to be brought home for a dignified burial.
It comes as an Israeli group campaigning for the release of hostages held in Gaza urged authorities on Tuesday to ‘act decisively’ against Hamas, accusing the group of violating the truce by returning only partial remains of a previously recovered captive.
‘In light of Hamas’ severe breach of the agreement last night… the Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations,’ the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Hamas handed over the remains of a deceased hostage on Monday as the Palestinian group came under increasing pressure to return its remaining deceased captives as promised under the Gaza ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israeli forces had received a coffin containing what Hamas said was the sixteenth of 28 bodies of hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attacks.
The Israeli military and security service were to take the coffin from Gaza to Israel, where it will be received in a military ceremony before being brought to the national forensic institute for identification and eventual return to the hostage’s family.
‘All of the hostages’ families have been updated accordingly, and our hearts are with them in this difficult hour. The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned,’ the statement said.
An informed source within Hamas confirmed the handover. ‘The body of an Israeli captive that was recovered today in the Gaza Strip has been handed over to the Red Cross,’ the source told AFP.
The latest exchange came as both senior Israeli officials and an association representing the families of the October 7 hostages demanded that Hamas speed up the transfer, which has slowed since it released its 20 living captives.
‘Hamas knows exactly where every one of the deceased hostages is held. Two weeks have passed since the deadline set in the agreement for the return of all 48 hostages, yet 13 remain in Hamas captivity,’ the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
‘The families urge the government of Israel, the United States administration and the mediators not to advance to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfils all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel,’ the association said.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem protested that the claim that the group knows the location of the remaining missing bodies is ‘false’, arguing that Israel’s bombardment during the two-year conflict had left locations unrecognisable.
‘We affirm our commitment to completing the first phase of the ceasefire agreement to prevent the occupation from finding any pretexts,’ he said, referring to Palestinians’ fears that Israel could renew military action despite the truce
‘We are determined to hand over the bodies of the Israeli captives as soon as possible,’ he said.
During their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Hamas militants took 251 people hostage, most of whom had been released, rescued or recovered before this month’s ceasefire.
The attack itself resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza killed at least 68,527 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
Hamas says it is committed to the ceasefire and insists it is trying to return all the remaining bodies – 11 Israelis and two workers from Thailand and Tanzania – but that the search has been hampered by the destruction wrought on Gaza during the war.
In the past two days, Egypt has sent recovery crews and heavy earth-moving equipment into Gaza, with Israeli approval, to help with the recovery operation.
Israeli spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said a team of Red Cross staff, Egyptian rescuers and a Hamas member were searching for bodies and had been allowed to cross the so-called Yellow Line into the area of Gaza controlled by Israeli forces.
A Red Cross spokesperson also confirmed it was part of the search team.
