Israel Says Latest Remains Handed Over by Hamas Do Not Belong to Hostages, Casting Fresh Doubt on Ceasefire Progress

By: Fern Sidman – Jewish Voice News

In yet another blow to the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Israeli officials said on Saturday that the remains of three people handed over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) do not belong to any of the hostages still held in Gaza. The disclosure, confirmed by The Associated Press, has deepened public frustration in Israel and raised new questions about the credibility of Hamas’s recent gestures under the truce agreement.

According to an AP report on Saturday, the exchange was part of a broader, painstakingly negotiated effort to maintain momentum in the ceasefire deal. The militant group’s transfer of three sets of remains on Friday came just a day after Israel returned 30 Palestinian bodies to Gaza for burial—an exchange that was initially seen as a modest breakthrough in humanitarian coordination between the warring sides.

However, the optimism quickly evaporated after Israeli authorities conducted forensic testing and determined that the remains Hamas turned over did not match any of the hostages still believed to be held by the group or its affiliates.

“The remains handed over by Hamas are not of Israeli hostages,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement quoted in the AP report. “Identification efforts continue to determine who the remains belong to.”

The revelation marks a major setback in an already fragile ceasefire that was intended to pave the way for the release of remaining hostages, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the gradual rebuilding of Gaza after two years of devastating warfare.

As the AP reported, Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, responded to the Israeli findings by insisting that it had merely returned unidentified remains, claiming that Israel had previously declined an offer to accept only samples for DNA testing.

“We handed the bodies over to stop the claims of Israel,” Hamas said in a statement carried in the AP report. The group also accused Israel of “politicizing the humanitarian process.”

Israeli officials, however, expressed anger and disbelief at what they described as a cynical ploy by the Iranian-backed terrorist organization to project cooperation while offering false or incomplete information.

“This act is consistent with Hamas’s pattern of deception and cruelty,” an Israeli security source told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. “It only prolongs the agony of the families waiting for answers and underscores how deeply untrustworthy Hamas remains.”

The exchange of bodies—long one of the most delicate and emotionally charged aspects of the Israel-Hamas conflict—has become a flashpoint for both sides. In Gaza, The AP reported that local health officials admitted to difficulties in identifying the dead due to a lack of DNA testing equipment and other forensic tools. Many of the remains recovered from the rubble of Israeli airstrikes or combat zones are badly decomposed, making visual identification nearly impossible.

“We are working under immense pressure,” one Gaza health official told the AP. “There are hundreds of unidentified bodies, and our resources are limited. Without DNA kits or international access, we cannot confirm identities.”

In Israel, the revelation that the latest remains did not belong to any hostages has reignited public fury and grief. Families of the captives and their supporters gathered again on Saturday evening for rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, demanding greater government action and accountability.

At a rally in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, the AP report quoted Yael Adar, the mother of slain hostage Tamir Adar, as saying: “The Hamas scum are mocking us. They know how desperate we are, and they are playing with our pain.”

In contrast, at a quieter vigil held in Jerusalem, Moran Harari, a friend of Carmel Gat, who was also killed in Hamas captivity, urged calm and patience. “I want us to have restraint,” she said, according to the AP report. “Every life, every piece of information matters. We must hold on to our humanity even when it feels impossible.”

The U.S.-brokered truce, which has been in effect since October 10, was originally hailed as a diplomatic achievement—a brief pause to end two years of relentless fighting that began with Hamas’s brutal October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel. That attack left more than 1,200 Israelis dead and hundreds taken hostage, sparking a prolonged and devastating Israeli military campaign across Gaza.

As the AP has repeatedly reported, while the ceasefire halted large-scale combat operations, it left critical issues unresolved—chief among them, the complete disarmament of Hamas, the return of all hostages, and the stabilization of Gaza’s governance and humanitarian infrastructure.

In recent weeks, the AP noted that Hamas has used the lull to reassert control in parts of the enclave, cracking down on perceived collaborators and resuming internal policing. This has raised fears among international observers that the group could exploit the truce to rebuild its military capabilities rather than disarm.

The confusion surrounding the latest exchange of remains has only deepened doubts about Hamas’s willingness to adhere to the ceasefire’s humanitarian provisions.

For Washington, which brokered the truce with Egypt and Qatar’s mediation, the development is a diplomatic embarrassment. U.S. officials had hoped that the return of bodies—even partial ones—would signal progress toward a full accounting of the hostages still missing in Gaza.

As the AP reported, State Department officials privately expressed “frustration and disappointment” that Hamas’s latest actions had undermined that progress. Publicly, American diplomats reaffirmed the need to keep communication channels open but acknowledged the “delicate nature of verification efforts in an active conflict zone.”

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross, which facilitated the transfer of the remains, has declined to comment on the specifics of the exchange, citing its mandate of neutrality. In a statement shared with the AP, the organization said it “remains committed to facilitating humanitarian exchanges between parties” and “deeply regrets any distress caused to the affected families.”

For the families of Israel’s remaining 11 hostages, the latest incident represents both heartbreak and a grim reminder of the stakes. Despite repeated appeals to the government and international community, most relatives have received little concrete information about their loved ones’ fate.

“We live in a world of rumors, false hopes, and broken promises,” one father of a missing soldier told the AP. “Every announcement feels like a lifeline, and every disappointment feels like a death.”

The Israeli government has vowed to continue its efforts to recover both the living and the dead, but officials acknowledge that progress remains painfully slow. “There will be no closure until every hostage is accounted for,” a senior Israeli military official told The AP.

For now, Israel and Hamas remain locked in a tense and uncertain truce, its success measured less by diplomacy than by the slow, agonizing process of recovering the human toll of war.

As the AP report observed, the incident has once again illuminated the profound human suffering—and the political fragility—that continue to define this conflict: “Even in peace, Gaza and Israel remain haunted by the ghosts of war.”