**Hamas Hands Over Remains of Another Deceased Hostage; Red Cross En Route to Receive Coffin**
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Friday that Hamas has handed over the remains of another deceased hostage. According to the IDF, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is on its way to a designated meeting point in the southern Gaza Strip to receive custody of the coffin.
“According to information received, the Red Cross is on its way to the meeting point in the southern Gaza Strip, where a coffin of a deceased hostage will be transferred into its custody,” the IDF said in a social media post late Friday night local time.
Earlier on Friday, Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed that they were handing over the body of an additional hostage.
This announcement follows Hamas’ statement on Wednesday that it had transferred all the Israeli hostage remains it had been able to recover so far. The group added that extensive efforts and special equipment would be necessary to locate the remaining bodies.
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### Background on the Gaza Peace Plan and Hostage Remains
The Gaza peace plan calls for Hamas to hand over all remaining hostages — 20 living and 28 deceased — by Monday, October 13. Since the agreement took effect last week, there have been accusations that Hamas is delaying the return of the remains of Israeli hostages still believed to be in Gaza.
To date, Hamas has handed over the remains of at least seven confirmed hostages, not including Friday’s coffin which still requires identification. While the group returned all 20 living hostages by the Monday deadline, only four sets of deceased hostage remains were transferred by that date.
An additional four bodies were handed over on Tuesday; however, the IDF clarified that one of those bodies was not a hostage.
If the remains received on Friday are confirmed to be an Israeli hostage, this would mean the remains of at least 18 hostages still remain unaccounted for.
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### Challenges in Recovering Hostage Remains
A senior U.S. adviser told reporters on a call Wednesday that “nobody is getting left behind,” expressing confidence that many bodies are still buried beneath the extensive rubble across Gaza. The adviser emphasized how the overwhelming level of destruction complicates movement and retrieval operations within the Palestinian territory.
“It would have been almost impossible for Hamas to mobilize, even if they knew where all the 28 bodies were, to mobilize and get them home,” the adviser said.
Notably, U.S. officials have been sharing Israeli intelligence with Hamas to assist in locating the hostages’ remains. Additionally, Turkey has offered to deploy expert teams experienced in rescuing people from earthquake rubble to aid in the search and recovery efforts.
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### International Efforts and Statements
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz announced Thursday that American personnel would participate in efforts to recover the remains of hostages yet to be returned.
During negotiations leading up to the peace deal, Hamas representatives reportedly admitted to Israeli media that they did not know the location of all the deceased hostages’ remains.
Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking in Egypt on Monday, acknowledged that not all bodies had been found and said unidentified parties were still working on locating an unspecified number of remains.
Senior U.S. advisers have urged patience, noting the logistical difficulties in retrieving remains from Gaza and expressing that, so far, there is no indication the agreement has been violated.
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### Reactions from Israeli Officials and Hostage Families
The Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum — representing families of the hostages — along with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, have both called for the suspension of the entire peace deal until all the hostages’ remains are returned by Hamas.
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This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hamas-hands-over-remains-another-deceased-israeli-hostage-idf-says/