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The remains of two captives remain in Gaza: Israel Police counter-terror officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai citizen Sudthisak Rinthalak.
By JNS
Israel was preparing on Wednesday afternoon to receive the remains of a deceased hostage, according to the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.
“Israel is preparing to receive in the coming hours, via the Red Cross, the coffin of a kidnapped hostage whose body was found earlier Tuesday during searches in the northern Gaza Strip,” the PMO announced.
“The fallen hostage will be transferred for examination at the National Center of Forensic Medicine” in Tel Aviv, according to the statement.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Red Cross said it had received a coffin of a deceased hostage, and that it would be given to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Security Agency said in a tatement.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group claimed earlier on Wednesday that it had “found” the body of a hostage in Gaza, as Hamas said it was preparing to transfer the remains to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“We found the body of one of the enemy’s captives during search and excavation operations this morning in the northern Gaza Strip,” PIJ’s “military wing,” Saraya al-Quds, said in an Arabic statement.
“Work is underway to complete certain procedures that precede the process of handing over the body, in accordance with established protocols,” the Iranian-backed terrorist organization added.
The Hamas terrorist organization, in a separate statement, said the body would be handed over to the Red Cross inside Gaza at 5 p.m. local time.
The remains of two captives remain in Gaza: Israel Police counter-terror officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai citizen Sudthisak Rinthalak.
Rinthalak’s father, Thong Ma, told Israel’s Army Radio on Wednesday he feels sad that he hasn’t been able to give his son a proper burial for over two years.
“I feel I always worry about him, I pray for him,” the bereaved father said, speaking with the Hebrew channel in Thai through a translator.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said earlier on Wednesday that forensic examinations had determined that “findings” transferred from Gaza a day earlier do not belong to any of the captives taken on Oct. 7, 2023.
“The families of the two fallen hostages have been informed,” the PMO stated. “The effort to bring them home will not stop until the completion of the mission—to lay them to rest with dignity in their homeland.”
Under the ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration that went into effect on Oct. 10, the Palestinian terrorist group committed to returning on Oct. 13 all 28 bodies it was holding.
However, Hamas has slow-walked the return of the deceased hostages.
The most recent handover took place on Nov. 25, when the terrorist group transferred the remains of Dror Or. He was buried on Sunday.
The PMO reiterated last week that Hamas must fulfill its obligations, vowing that the Jewish state “will not compromise” until every captive is brought home.
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