Israel receives remains of 2 more hostages as military says another body
was not that of a hostage
[October 16, 2025]
By SAM METZ, SAMY MAGDY and WAFAA SHURAFA
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel received the remains of two more hostages
Wednesday, hours after the Israeli military said that one of the bodies
previously turned over was not that of a hostage. The confusion added to
tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.
The coffins carrying the remains were transferred by the Red Cross from
Hamas. Upon returning to Israel, they were sent to a forensic lab in Tel
Aviv. The military in a statement cautioned that the hostages’
identities had yet to be verified.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of
Palestinians from Israel, another step in implementation of the
ceasefire agreement. That brought to 90 the total number of bodies
returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains
said they showed signs of mistreatment.
As part of the deal, four bodies of hostages were handed over by Hamas
on Tuesday, following four on Monday that were returned hours after the
last 20 living hostages were released from Gaza. In all, Israel has been
awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.
The Israeli military said forensic testing showed that "the fourth body
handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages."
There was no immediate word on whose body it was.
In exchange for the release of the hostages, Israel freed around 2,000
Palestinian prisoners and detainees Monday.
Unidentified bodies returned to Gaza show signs of abuse
Israel is expected to turn over more bodies, though officials have not
said how many are in its custody or how many will be returned. It is
unclear whether the remains belong to Palestinians who died in Israeli
custody or were taken from Gaza by Israeli troops. Throughout the war,
Israel’s military has exhumed bodies as part of its search for the
remains of hostages.
As forensic teams examined the first remains returned, the Health
Ministry on Wednesday released images of 32 unidentified bodies to help
families recognize missing relatives.
Many appeared decomposed or burned. Some were missing limbs or teeth,
while others were coated in sand and dust. Health officials have said
Israeli restrictions on allowing DNA testing equipment into Gaza have
often forced morgues to rely on physical features and clothing for
identification.
The forensics team that received the bodies said some arrived still
shackled or bearing signs of physical abuse.
Sameh Hamad, a member of a commission tasked with receiving the bodies
at Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital, said some arrived with their hands and
legs cuffed.
“There are signs of torture and executions,” he told The Associated
Press.
The bodies, he said, belonged to men ages 25 to 70. Most had bands on
their necks, including one that had a rope around the neck.
Most of the bodies wore civilian clothing, but some were in uniforms,
suggesting they were militants.
Hamad said the Red Cross provided names for only three of the dead,
leaving many families uncertain of their relatives’ fate. The fighting
has killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry,
which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza. The ministry
maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable
by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross and
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
Rasmiya Qudeih, 52, waited outside Nasser Hospital, hoping her son would
be among the 45 bodies transferred Wednesday from Israel.
He vanished on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas-led attack that
triggered the war. She was told he was killed by an Israeli strike.
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Mourners walk near the car carrying the coffin of slain hostage Guy
Illouz during his funeral procession in Rishon Lezion, Israel,
Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Illouz remains were returned from Gaza to
Israel as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
“God willing, he will be with the bodies," she said.
Netanyahu says Israel won't compromise
The ceasefire plan introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump had
called for all hostages — living and dead — to be handed over by a
deadline that expired Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t
happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and
try to hand them over as soon as possible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel
“will not compromise” and demanded that Hamas fulfill the
requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal about the return of
hostages’ bodies.
Trump, in an interview with CNN, warned that Israel could resume the
war if he feels Hamas isn't upholding its end of the agreement.
“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,"
Trump said.
Hamas’ armed wing said in a statement Wednesday that the group
honored the ceasefire’s terms and handed over the remains of the
hostages it had access to.
Hamas has assured the U.S. through intermediaries that it is working
to return dead hostages, according to two senior U.S. advisers. The
advisers, who were not authorized to comment publicly and briefed
reporters on the condition of anonymity, said they do not believe
Hamas has violated the deal.
The widespread destruction in the territory has complicated the
retrieval of the dead, the officials added. One of the advisers said
debris as well as unexploded weapons add to the difficulty.
Hamas has told mediators that some bodies are in areas controlled by
Israeli troops.
This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to
Israel. During a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over
the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who were among those
taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which some 1,200 people
were killed and 251 abducted.
Testing in February 2025 showed that one of the bodies returned was
identified as a Palestinian woman. Bibas’ body was returned a day
later.
More aid bound for Gaza
The World Food Program said its trucks began arriving in Gaza after
the entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza was paused for two days
due to the exchange on Monday and a Jewish holiday Tuesday.
The timing of the scaled-up deliveries — which are part of the
ceasefire deal — was called into question after Israel said Tuesday
that it would cut the number of trucks allowed into Gaza, saying
Hamas was too slow to return the hostages' bodies.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and
medical supplies were bound for Gaza on Wednesday. The Israeli
defense body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, declined to
comment on the number of trucks expected to enter Gaza.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Shurafa from Deir al-Balah, Gaza
Strip. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel,
Sarah El Deeb in Cairo and Michelle Price and Aamer Madhani in
Washington contributed to this report.
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