Israel reported that in the coming hours it will receive, through the International Committee of the Red Cross, the remains of an alleged hostage recovered by Palestinian terrorist organizations in the northern Gaza Strip. Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced that the bodies will be handed over at 5:00 p.m. local time.
After the handover, the remains will be transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, where Israeli specialists will carry out the necessary analyses to determine their identity. The forensic examination will be key to confirming whether they belong to police sergeant major Ran Gvili or Thai citizen Sudthisak Rinthalak, both kidnapped during the brutal Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
A key forensic process to recover the victims
The recovery and repatriation of the bodies is part of the Israeli government's commitment not to abandon any citizen, living or deceased, held by terrorist groups. Authorities emphasized that precise identification is essential to advance the humanitarian mission and allow for a dignified burial on Israeli soil.
According to official sources, the remains handed over by Hamas on Tuesday did not correspond to the last two deceased hostages. The National Center of Forensic Medicine determined that the materials received "are not linked to any of the kidnapped individuals."
Discovery in Beit Lahiya and ICRC involvement
The remains recovered this Wednesday come from an operation carried out in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, where Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists acted alongside Red Cross personnel. Hours later, the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, confirmed the discovery but without specifying to which of the two victims they might belong.
