Israel Confirms Identities of Deceased Gaza Hostages Returned Thursday

Israel announced Thursday that it had identified the remains of hostages Amiram Kuper and Sahar Baruch, whose bodies were returned earlier in the day by Hamas.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the families had been notified following “the completion of the identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine.”

Militants took 251 people hostage during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

Sahar Baruch, 25, was abducted from Kibbutz Beeri and killed two months later during a failed Israeli rescue attempt in Gaza.
Amiram Kuper, 84 at the time of his abduction, was taken along with his wife Nourit Kuper from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Israel confirmed his death in captivity in June 2024.

So far, militants have returned the remains of 17 of the 28 deceased hostages that Hamas agreed to hand over under a US-brokered truce deal with Israel.

In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum expressed solidarity with the families of Kuper and Baruch and urged the return of the remaining bodies.

The confirmation came amid renewed tensions following an Israeli airstrike campaign launched overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday after an attack that killed an Israeli soldier in southern Gaza.

According to Gaza’s civil defence agency, operating under Hamas authority, the strikes killed more than 100 people, including dozens of children — the deadliest night of bombing since the October 10 ceasefire took effect.

By Wednesday morning, Israel said it had resumed “renewed enforcement of the ceasefire,” while both US President Donald Trump and regional mediator Qatar said they expected the truce to hold.

Hamas denied involvement in the Rafah shooting incident that sparked the escalation and reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire. The group delayed returning the body of another hostage, warning that further escalation could disrupt efforts to locate and recover remains buried under Gaza’s rubble.

Earlier in the week, Hamas faced outrage in Israel after returning partial remains of a previously recovered hostage — which Israeli forensic experts later confirmed were from someone whose body had already been brought back nearly two years ago.

Since the truce began, Hamas has handed over 20 surviving captives and started returning the bodies of deceased hostages. Israel, however, accuses the group of violating the deal by delaying the process, while Hamas maintains that locating the remains amid Gaza’s devastation will take time.