JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that the body of a deceased hostage Hamas returned overnight has been identified as 75-year-old Eliyahu Margalit.
The Israeli military “informed the family of the abductee Eliyahu Margalit... that (the body of) their loved one has been returned to Israel and his identification has been completed,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
It added that “we will not compromise... and will spare no effort until we return all of the fallen abductees, down to the last one.”
The remains of the hostage who died in captivity were transferred to Israeli security forces in Gaza via the Red Cross, and returned to Israel for identification at a medical analysis center, the premier’s office said on Friday night.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that the remains had been returned to Margalit’s family.
Margalit was killed at Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war in Gaza, according to a military statement.
“Eliyahu, 75 years old at the time of his death... leaves behind a wife, three children, and grandchildren. His daughter, Nili Margalit, was also abducted and returned (under) the hostage release agreement in November 2023,” the statement said.
“Hamas is required to fulfil its part of the agreement and make the necessary efforts to return all the hostages to their families,” it added.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement Friday night that the militant group “continues to uphold its commitment to the ceasefire agreement... and it will continue working to complete the full prisoner exchange process.”
Under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas spearheaded by US President Donald Trump, the Palestinian militant group has returned all 20 surviving hostages and the remains of 10 out of 28 known deceased ones.
Under the terms of the agreement Hamas was to hand over all of the hostages, dead and alive, before Monday at 0900 GMT.
Israel returns bodies of Palestinians
Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Saturday, bringing the total number handed over to 135, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.
Under a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned. Late on Friday, Hamas handed over the body of another Israeli hostage.
