(Reuters) -Israel has received the body of deceased hostage Meny Godard from Palestinian militants in Gaza via the Red Cross, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday.
Godard lived on a kibbutz near Gaza and was killed during the Hamas raid on Israel on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken to Gaza. He was 73 at the time of his death, which was officially declared on December 8, 2023.
Earlier, the armed wings of militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they would hand over the body of a hostage at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), though Israel had said it had not received any official notification of a planned transfer.
After being transferred to Israel through the Red Cross, the body headed to forensic experts, who less than three hours later identified it as Godard’s.
The remains of three hostages are still being held in Gaza.
“The Government and the entire establishment for the missing and the captives of the State of Israel are determined, committed, and working tirelessly to return all of our fallen hostages for proper burial in their country,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas and also seized hostages during the October 7 attack that precipitated the Gaza war, said the body was recovered in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
Under an October ceasefire deal, Hamas released all 20 surviving hostages still held in Gaza in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees held by Israel.
The agreement also provided for the return of the remains of 28 hostages in exchange for the remains of 360 militants.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir in Dubai and Steven Scheer and Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem, Editing by Deepa Babington and Matthew Lewis)
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