Hamas returns the remains of three more Israeli hostages, leaving eight in Gaza, including an Israeli-American.

Jerusalem – Palestinian militants have so far freed the remains of 20 hostages who were held in Gaza for the past two years as part of the ceasefire agreement in it War between Israel and Hamas. But he body return process The removal of the last eight remaining hostages, as required by the US peace plan, is progressing slowly, with militants releasing only one or two bodies every few days.

Hamas says it has We have not been able to reach all the remains. because they are buried under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel’s two-year offensive in the Gaza Strip. However, Israel’s government and the hostages’ families have accused Hamas of dragging its feet, and officials have threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned.

In the most recent statement, Hamas on Sunday returned the bodies of three soldiers killed during its October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on southern Israel. The Israeli military confirmed that the remains belonged to hostages Omer Neutra, Oz Daniel and Colonel Assaf Hamami.

In exchange, Israel has so far returned the bodies of 270 Palestinians to Gaza, including 45 delivered on Monday, according to Palestinian media. Israel has not provided any details about their identities and it is not clear whether they were killed in Israel during the October 7 attack, or whether they were Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody, or bodies that were taken from Gaza by Israeli troops during the war.

Health officials in Gaza have struggled to identify bodies without access to DNA kits.

Who are the 8 hostages whose remains have not been returned?

it’s chen He was an Israeli-American from Netanya, central Israel, who was kidnapped along with two other members of his tank battalion: Daniel Peretz, who also died, and Matan Angrest, who survived and was released from captivity on Monday. Chen loved basketball and studying human biology, according to the Israel Hostage Families Forum.

Chen was killed on October 7 and his body was taken to Gaza. Her father, Ruby Chen, has He met frequently with American leaders about returning all hostages to Israel, including the remains of the dead. Itay Chen is survived by his parents and two brothers.

Meny Godard was a professional soccer player before enlisting in the Israeli army and serving in the 1973 Middle East War, according to Kibbutz Be’eri. He held various positions in the kibbutz, including in the printing press.

On the morning of October 7, Godard and his wife, Ayelet, were forced to leave their home after it was set on fire. She hid in the bushes for several hours before the militants discovered her and killed her. She was able to tell her children that Meny had been murdered before she died. The family held a double funeral for the couple. They are survived by four children and six grandchildren.

Hadar Goldin’s remains are the only ones held in Gaza since before the war. The Israeli soldier was killed on August 1, 2014, two hours after a ceasefire came into effect ending that year’s war between Israel and Hamas. The military said he was determined to have died in the Oct. 7 attack.

Goldin is survived by his parents and three siblings, including a twin. He had proposed to his fiancee before he was killed. Earlier this year, Goldin’s family marked 4,000 days since her body was taken away. The army recovered the body of another soldier who died in the 2014 war earlier this year.

Ran Gvili, who served in an elite police unit, was recovering from a broken shoulder he suffered in a motorcycle accident, but rushed to the aid of his fellow officers on October 7. After helping people escape from the Nova music festival, he died fighting elsewhere and his body was taken to Gaza. The military confirmed his death four months later. He is survived by his parents and a sister.

Joshua Mollel was an agriculture student from Tanzania who arrived at Kibbutz Nahal Oz just 19 days before October 7. He had finished agricultural college in Tanzania and hoped to gain experience in Israel that he could apply at home. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, two smaller Palestinian militant groups posted graphic images on social media showing their fighters stabbing and shooting Mollel. He is survived by two parents and four siblings in Tanzania.

Dror Or was a father of three, managed the Kibbutz Be’eri dairy farm and was an expert cheese maker. On October 7, the family was hiding in their safe room when militants set fire to the house. Dror and his wife Yonat were killed. Two of his children were kidnapped and released during the November 2023 ceasefire.

Sudthisak Rinthalak was a Thai agricultural worker who had worked at Kibbutz Be’eri. According to media reports, Rinthalak was divorced and working in Israel since 2017. A total of 31 Thai workers were kidnapped on October 7, the largest group of foreigners held in captivity. Most of them were released in the first and second ceasefires. Rinthalak is the last of three Thai hostages whose bodies were held in Gaza. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said that, in addition to the hostages, 46 Thais have died during the war.

Lior Rudaeff was born in Argentina and moved to Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak at age 7. He volunteered for over 40 years as an ambulance driver and was a member of the community’s emergency response team. He was killed while fighting militants on the morning of October 7 and his body was taken to Gaza. Rudaeff is survived by four children and three grandchildren.