Israel identifies bodies of two hostages returned by Hamas

2025-10-22 09:40:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Israeli military says the bodies of two hostages returned by Hamas on Tuesday have been identified as Arie Zalmanowicz and Sergeant Tamir Adar.

Zalmanovich, 85 at the time of his death, was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity on November 17, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. Adar, 38 when he died, was a member of the Nir Oz community security squad and was killed while fighting Hamas gunmen during the October 7 attack.

The return of their remains means Hamas has transferred 15 of the 28 deceased Israeli hostages under the first phase of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal earlier this month. Their coffins were delivered to troops in the Palestinian territory by the Red Cross, which had previously taken them from Hamas.

The IDF said the coffins, which were escorted by the military, had crossed into Israel and would be taken for official identification in Tel Aviv. Hamas had handed over a Palestinian body in an earlier hostage transfer, which it said was accidental due to difficulties in finding the bodies. All 20 live hostages were released shortly after the deal was reached.

Before the last remains were identified, the IDF stressed that "Hamas must implement the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all deceased hostages."

There has been anger in Israel that Hamas has not yet returned all of its deceased hostages. The Palestinian group says it is trying to do so, but is facing difficulties finding bodies under the rubble of buildings bombed by the IDF in Gaza. Under the ceasefire and hostage release agreement, Israel has released 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza, and has returned 15 Palestinian bodies for every Israeli hostage.

The first phase of the deal has also seen an increase in aid to Gaza, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces and a halt to fighting, although over the weekend, both sides accused each other of violating the terms of the agreement. The IDF launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023 attack, in which Hamas-led gunmen killed an estimated 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 others hostage.

More than 68,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable./ CNA