Israel identifies body of hostage
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After more than two years in captivity, the last 20 hostages abducted during Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, have been released.
President Donald Trump arrived in Israel Monday morning, where he addressed the Knesset and attended a regional peace ceremony in Egypt with global leaders following the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Hamas released 7 hostages shortly before Trump's arrival.
No names were immediately released. The bodies were in Israel and were being taken to the country’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine.
President Trump called on Hamas to stop killing Palestinians in Gaza and disarm under the rules of the ceasefire; Israel calls for deceased hostages.
Israel had threatened to keep Rafah shut and reduce aid supplies because Hamas was returning bodies too slowly.
The handover came after Hamas’s military wing said it will hand over the body of a hostage that was pulled out Friday to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The daughter of the latest dead hostage to be returned to Israel from Gaza and identified has said her father is "finally home." Israel's military has confirmed that one of two sets of remains handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza on Saturday are those of Ronen Engel.
The body of an eleventh hostage returned to Israel from Gaza on Saturday has been identified as Ronen Engel, as the ceasefire that brought a pause to two years of destruction in the Palestinian enclave comes under strain.