Israel Says Body Returned by Hamas Was Not That of A Hostage as Tensions Test Gaza Ceasefire

One of the four bodies handed over by Hamas overnight is not that of a known hostage, Israel announced Wednesday, deepening tensions around a fragile truce. Hamas delivered four coffins to Israel late Tuesday, each thought to contain the remains of Israeli captives held in Gaza. But on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) disclosed that forensic tests at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine determined that “the fourth body handed over … does not match any of the hostages.” Israel insisted that “Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages.” Read more: How the Trump Administration Sealed the Gaza Ceasefire Deal The three other bodies have been confirmed via DNA testing as those of Tamir Nimrodi, Uriel Baruch, and Eitan Levi. Nimrodi, a soldier who was 18 at the time of his death, was reportedly killed by Israeli airstrikes while in Gaza, according to statements by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The forum asserted that “Tamir was kidnapped alive from his base and killed by IDF bombings in captivity.” Baruch, 35, and Levi, 53, were killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel and later taken into Gaza. Following the revelation that one body was misidentified, Israel warned it would make no concessions in securing the return of the remaining hostages. “We will not compromise on this and we will spare no effort until our fallen hostages return, every last one of them,” said a government spokesperson, reiterating that Hamas must honor its obligations to mediators. Read more: The Israelis Freed in the Gaza Hostage Deal Under the ceasefire agreement, for every Israeli body handed over by Hamas, Israel will return 15 Palestinian bodies. Thus far, Israel has transferred 90 bodies to Gaza. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is facilitating the civilian transfers. “We know that the families won’t give up … and neither will we — we are prepared to fulfill our role for as long as it takes,” said Julien Lerisson, head of the ICRC delegation in Israel and the Occupied Territories. To date, Hamas has returned only seven of 28 bodies identified as deceased hostages. Earlier Tuesday, the bodies of IDF Captain Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi, Guy Iloz, and Nepali citizen Bipin Joshi were transferred. But Israel’s military had warned Hamas that it would reduce aid flow if bodies were not handed over by a Monday deadline. Hamas has said it has had difficulty locating the bodies of some hostages, thought to be buried under rubble. Read more: The Environmental Toll of the War in Gaza The United Nations has expressed alarm over Israel’s decision to withhold part of the humanitarian aid promised under the agreement. Israeli officials informed the UN Tuesday that they would impose aid sanctions, cutting the volume of trucks allowed into Gaza to half. COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for coordination in Gaza and the West Bank, confirmed such steps. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged both sides to abide by their commitments. Fletcher emphasized that withholding aid from civilians should never be a bargaining tool, asserting that ensuring its entry is a legal obligation. TIME has reached out to COGAT for comment regarding the closures. In Gaza, medical organizations decried Israel’s withholding of assistance. “It is frankly outrageous that life-saving humanitarian aid … and the lives of Palestinians are used by Israel as a bargaining chip,” said Fikr Shalltoot, director of Medical Aid for Palestinians in Gaza, in a statement shared with TIME. On Monday, the last 20 living hostages held in Gaza were transferred to Israeli control. In exchange, nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners who had been taken from Gaza since the war began were released into Gaza and the West Bank. Witnesses described many released hostages as dangerously thin; many Palestinian returnees bore wounds and mobility injuries. On the ground in Gaza, the fragile calm is already strained by fears of internal unrest. Rival armed factions are fighting for influence in the postwar vacuum. One casualty was Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi, 28, who had covered the war; he was reportedly shot by a militia and buried the same day his brother Naji was released from an Israeli prison under the exchange deal. As the ceasefire tenuously endures, the misidentification of the fourth body has raised questions about Hamas’s ability—and intent—to meet its commitments under the truce brokered by the U.S. President Donald Trump. Israeli officials say the group must now provide full accounting for all deceased hostages, while mediators work to preserve a deal that has so far halted two years of devastating conflict.