Israel has confirmed that the body returned by Hamas on Thursday is that of Meny Godard, who was 73 at the time of his death during the 7 October attacks.
Red Cross teams collected the body hours after Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it had been located in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
Forensic tests conducted by Israeli authorities verified that the remains belong to Godard, who was killed alongside his wife, Ayelet, during the violent Hamas raid on Kibbutz Be’eri in October 2023.
Under the ongoing ceasefire agreement, which is part of a US-brokered plan to end the conflict in Gaza, three of the 28 deceased hostages remain in the territory.
The first phase of the agreement has seen all living Israeli hostages released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza. Israel has also committed to returning the remains of 15 Palestinians for each deceased Israeli hostage received. However, the lack of DNA testing facilities in Gaza has made identifying the Palestinian remains challenging.
Hamas captured 251 hostages during the 7 October attacks that left at least 1,200 people dead in southern Israel. In retaliation, Israeli strikes have reportedly killed over 69,000 Palestinians, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN considers credible.
Of the three bodies still in Gaza, two are Israeli and one is Thai. Israel has accused Hamas of intentionally delaying the return of the hostages’ remains, while Hamas maintains it is struggling to recover them from the rubble.
The slow pace of progress has stalled the second phase of the US peace plan for Gaza, which includes provisions for governance, Israeli troop withdrawal, Hamas disarmament, and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
