On November 7, 2025, the Israeli army received the remains of another hostage from the Red Cross in Gaza, marking a somber milestone in the ongoing, U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. According to the Israeli prime minister's office, this transfer brings the total number of deceased hostages returned to Israel since the truce took effect to 23 out of 28, as reported by FRANCE 24 and corroborated by The Times of Israel.
The latest handover took place at a border crossing with the southern Gaza Strip, where Red Cross vehicles collected the body, reportedly located in the Khan Younis area, from Hamas and its ally, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that the coffin containing the body had crossed into Israeli territory and was subsequently sent to a forensic facility in Tel Aviv for identification.
The return of hostage remains has become a focal point in the fragile ceasefire that commenced on October 10, 2025. Under the terms of the agreement, brokered with significant U.S. involvement, Hamas was to return the bodies of 28 deceased hostages, while Israel agreed to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. At the outset of the truce, all 20 surviving hostages—captured during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel—were released. In exchange, Israel freed a large number of Palestinian detainees, a move seen as both a humanitarian gesture and a calculated political trade-off.
Yet, the process of returning the bodies of the last six deceased hostages has proven slow and contentious. As AP reports, Hamas claims it has struggled to retrieve some remains because they are buried beneath the rubble left by Israel’s two-year military campaign in Gaza. Israeli officials, however, accuse Hamas of deliberately dragging its feet, with threats to resume military operations or restrict humanitarian aid if the pace does not accelerate.
The returned hostages’ identities reflect the international scope of the tragedy. Of the 23 deceased hostages now back in Israel, 19 were Israeli citizens, while the others included a Thai national, a Nepali, a Tanzanian, and, most recently, another foreign worker. The body of the Tanzanian agricultural student, Joshua Loitu Mollel, 21, was identified by Israel’s military after being returned by Hamas. Mollel had arrived in Israel for an agricultural internship just 19 days before the October 7, 2023, attack that claimed his life. According to AP, his remains were among those most recently handed over as part of the ceasefire deal.
Israel’s reciprocal actions have also been significant. The country has released the bodies of 285 Palestinians back to Gaza, though the identities of these individuals remain unclear. Gaza’s health officials, hampered by a lack of DNA kits and ongoing conflict, have managed to identify only 84 of these bodies. It remains uncertain whether these were people killed in Israel during the October 7 attack, Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody, or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops during the war.
As of early November 2025, the six hostages whose remains have not yet been returned are a poignant symbol of the war's unresolved pain. Their stories, detailed by AP, offer a window into the human cost behind the statistics:
Meny Godard, 73, was a professional soccer player before serving in the Israeli military during the 1973 Mideast War. On October 7, 2023, Godard and his wife, Ayelet, were forced from their home after it was set ablaze. Ayelet managed to contact their children before being discovered and killed by militants. The family later held a double funeral for the couple, who are survived by four children and six grandchildren.
Hadar Goldin, 23, is the only hostage whose body has been held in Gaza since before the current war. An Israeli soldier, Goldin was killed on August 1, 2014, just two hours after a ceasefire was declared in that year’s conflict. Evidence found in a tunnel—his blood-soaked shirt and prayer fringes—led the military to conclude he had perished. Earlier this year, Goldin’s family marked 4,000 days since his body was taken.
Ran Gvili, 24, was a member of an elite police unit. Despite recovering from a broken shoulder, he rushed to help fellow officers on October 7, 2023, assisting with evacuations at the Nova music festival before being killed in subsequent fighting. His body was taken to Gaza, and his death was confirmed four months later. He is survived by his parents and a sister.
Dror Or, 52, a dairy farm manager at Kibbutz Be’eri, was killed alongside his wife, Yonat, as they hid from militants on October 7, 2023. Two of their children, Noam and Alma, were abducted and later released during the November 2023 ceasefire. Or is remembered by friends and family for his expertise as a cheesemaker and his dedication to the kibbutz.
Sudthisak Rinthalak, a Thai agricultural worker, was among the largest group of foreign hostages taken on October 7, 2023. According to media reports and the Thai Foreign Ministry, 31 Thai workers were kidnapped that day, with most released during ceasefires. Rinthalak, who had worked in Israel since 2017, was divorced and seeking better opportunities for his family. In total, 46 Thai nationals have been killed during the war.
Lior Rudaeff, 61, born in Argentina and raised in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, dedicated over 40 years as an ambulance driver and emergency response team member. He was killed while fighting militants on October 7, 2023, and his body was also taken to Gaza. Rudaeff is survived by four children and three grandchildren, remembered for his selflessness and community service.
The remaining six hostages include five seized on October 7, 2023—four Israelis and one Thai national—as well as the remains of Hadar Goldin, the soldier killed in 2014. The handover of these bodies remains a sticking point in the truce, with both sides trading accusations over delays. Hamas blames the destruction wrought by Israeli bombardment, insisting, as quoted by FRANCE 24, that "the process is slow because many are buried beneath Gaza's rubble." Israel, meanwhile, maintains that Hamas is stalling for political leverage.
Despite the tension, the Red Cross continues its delicate mission, ferrying remains across a war-torn landscape in the hope of providing families with long-awaited closure. For many, the return of a loved one’s body is a small mercy amid the devastation—a chance to mourn, to bury, and to remember.
As the ceasefire holds, albeit tenuously, the fate of the remaining hostages hangs in the balance. Each handover is fraught with emotion, politics, and logistical hurdles. But for the families waiting on both sides, every returned body is a step toward healing scars that may never fully fade.
