On Tuesday, December 2, 2025, a somber scene played out in Israel as forensic experts received human remains handed over by Palestinian militants in Gaza to the Red Cross. These remains, believed to be those of one of the two hostages still unaccounted for in the territory—an Israeli and a Thai national—were transferred to Israel’s National Center of Forensic Medicine for detailed testing, according to statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and coverage by the Associated Press and Reuters.
The remains were discovered in Gaza’s northern town of Beit Lahiya, a region that has witnessed intense conflict and devastation since the outbreak of war following Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The Red Cross has played a critical role as an intermediary throughout the conflict, facilitating the release of hostages and the handover of remains between Gaza’s militant groups and Israeli authorities. As Netanyahu’s office emphasized, “Israel is preparing to receive from the Red Cross findings that were transferred from the Gaza Strip. The findings will be transferred to the National Center of Forensic Medicine.”
The two hostages whose remains are believed to be involved in this latest transfer are Israeli police officer Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak, both kidnapped during the initial Hamas-led assault. The Captives and Missing Directorate remains in “continuous contact with the families of the two fallen hostages,” Israeli officials stated, underscoring the ongoing anguish and uncertainty faced by families even as the war drags on.
The return of these remains marks another chapter in a grim tally. Since the U.S.-brokered ceasefire began on October 10, 2023, the remains of 26 hostages taken during the infamous October 7 attack have already been returned, according to AP reporting. The initial attack by Hamas and its allies resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people in southern Israel and the abduction of 251 hostages, setting off a chain of violence that has reverberated across the region. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned during ceasefires or through other negotiated deals.
But the conflict’s toll has not been limited to hostages and their families. In Gaza, violence has continued to claim lives even during periods of declared ceasefire. On the same Tuesday that Israel received the remains, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. According to officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, a videographer named Mahmoud Wadi was killed in a drone strike. Wadi, who once ran a company specializing in filming weddings and celebrations, had more recently documented the destruction of Gaza, posting footage that captured the daily devastation faced by its residents. Another man was shot dead near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital reported. Israel’s military did not immediately comment on either death, but has previously stated that such killings are often in response to militants approaching or firing at its forces.
Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government but is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records considered generally reliable by the international community, reports that more than 350 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since the ceasefire began. The wider toll, according to the ministry, has now surpassed 70,100 Palestinians killed since the war’s onset—numbers that continue to fuel international concern and debate about the conduct and consequences of the conflict.
Meanwhile, violence has also surged in the occupied West Bank. On December 2, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in separate incidents. The military said one suspect stabbed and lightly wounded two soldiers near an Israeli settlement in the central West Bank before being fatally shot. The incident remains under review. In the southern West Bank, another Palestinian was killed after carrying out a car-ramming attack that wounded a soldier. The army reported that the man attempted to flee as troops tried to arrest him. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the suspects as an 18-year-old from north of Ramallah and a 17-year-old from Hebron—both young men whose deaths have become part of a growing list of casualties in the region.
Israel’s military has intensified its operations in the West Bank since the war in Gaza erupted, stating that these efforts are aimed at rooting out militants. However, Palestinian sources and human rights advocates argue that many of those killed have been stone-throwers, protesters, or uninvolved civilians. Recent weeks have also seen a spike in attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians, further inflaming tensions and fears of broader unrest.
Adding to the tension, Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished the family home of Abdul Karim Sanoubar, a suspected Palestinian militant currently in detention for allegedly planting bombs on buses in central Israel in February 2025. Thirteen homes surrounding the building in Nablus were evacuated during the operation. Israel maintains that such demolitions are intended to deter future attacks, though critics—both within Israel and internationally—contend that these actions amount to collective punishment and risk deepening resentment among Palestinians. Later in the day, Israeli troops demolished another home in Aqabah town belonging to a man accused of a fatal shooting attack.
Beyond the borders of Israel and the Palestinian territories, the conflict’s reverberations have been felt in neighboring countries. On Tuesday, Israel launched another round of strikes on southern Lebanon, continuing near-daily operations against the militant group Hezbollah. These strikes have persisted despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire last year that ended two months of open warfare. Prime Minister Netanyahu renewed calls for Syria to establish a large demilitarized buffer zone in the country’s southern region, adjacent to Israeli-held territory. Israel already controls a 400-square-kilometer swath of Syrian land along the border, territory it claims was seized to prevent militants from infiltrating after Islamist insurgents toppled Syrian government forces in the area.
Syrian officials have repeatedly condemned Israeli incursions, describing them as violations of national sovereignty. Last Friday, Israeli forces killed 13 people in a raid on a Syrian village, according to Syrian government sources. Israeli authorities insist their operations in Lebanon and Syria target militant groups, but critics argue that civilians—including women and children—often pay the price.
Amid this turmoil, the call for peace has not faded entirely into the background. As Pope Leo XIV departed Lebanon on December 2, he made a brief but pointed reference to the violence in southern Lebanon and urged all parties to seek peace in the region—a sentiment echoed by many but realized by few in these troubled times.
The events of December 2, 2025, serve as a stark reminder of the enduring complexity and human cost of the Israel-Gaza conflict. With each new exchange—whether of remains, fire, or rhetoric—families on all sides are left to grapple with loss, uncertainty, and the hope that someday the cycle might end.
