‘Does not match’: Israel says body returned by Hamas not a hostage — what happened

The Israeli military on Wednesday claimed that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas the previous day under the ceasefire agreement was not that of an Israeli hostage. Of the four bodies returned on Tuesday, one was found to be a misidentified Palestinian from Gaza, according to Israeli sources cited by CNN.

The military stated that after forensic examination, the body did not match any known hostages.As per CNN, Hamas misidentified the body rather than intentionally sending the wrong one.

Earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated demands for Hamas to uphold the ceasefire deal, introduced by US President Trump, insisting, “We will not compromise on this and will not stop our efforts until we return the last deceased hostage.”Efforts to retrieve all hostages, living and deceased, continue. Hamas has previously returned the wrong remains, including in a case earlier this year. Meanwhile, humanitarian aid into Gaza resumed Wednesday after delays, though only partially, due to slow progress on the hostages’ return.On Monday, Israelis celebrated the return of the last 20 living hostages in Gaza. As part of the deal Israel released of some 2,000 prisoners and detainees as part of the ceasefire’s first phase.