Hamas Still Holds 21 Hostage Remains

Hamas has yet to hand over the bodies of at least 21 hostage remains still held in Gaza — a key requirement of the ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Families across Israel have now endured more than 700 days without the ability to bury their loved ones, making the issue a central test of the fragile truce.

"The urgent mission to which we are all committed now is to ensure the return of all the abducted bodies home," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote Monday on X. "Hamas's announcement about the expected return of 4 bodies today is a failure to meet commitments.

"Any delay or deliberate avoidance will be considered a gross violation of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly."

Under the agreement, Hamas is obligated to return the remains of 28 deceased hostages. Hamas claimed to have returned eight thus far, but Israel reported there is evidence that one of those eight was not a hostage.

The names of the 21 hostage remains that Israel awaits, as reported by Axios. One of these 21 was mistakenly identified by Hamas, but the name of that individual has not be reported.

Itay Chen, a 19-year-old Israeli-American soldier
Eliyahu Margalit, 75, from Nir Oz
Sahar Baruch, abducted from Be'eri
Joshua Luito Mollel, a Tanzanian student
Tal Haimi, 41, from Nir Yitzhak
Arie Zalmanowicz, Nir Oz founder
Ran Gvili, police officer
Dror Or, 49
Tamir Adar, 38
Ronen Engel, 54
Inbar Hayman, 27
Asaf Hamami, senior IDF officer
Lior Rudaeff, 61
Muhammad Al-Atarash, father of 13
Meny Godard, 73
Omer Neutra, 21, American-Israeli
Oz Daniel, 19
Sontia Ok'Krasari, Thai national
Sontisek Rintalk, Thai national
Amiram Cooper, 85
Hadar Goldin, soldier killed in 2014

"We live in a state of suspended mourning — unable to grieve, unable to heal," Chen's mother wrote this week.

For Israel and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the return of the bodies is non-negotiable, condemning the breach of terms.

"The Hostages Families Forum is calling for the immediate suspension of all agreement implementation until every deceased individual is returned," Monday's X post read. "Hamas's violation of the agreement must be met with a very serious response from the government and the mediators.

"An agreement must be honored by both sides. If Hamas does not fulfill their part, Israel should not fulfill its part either.

"We demand all 28 hostages back. We will not give up on anyone, until the last hostage is returned."

Hamas has claimed it does not know where all the bodies are, heightening tensions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had signaled a reduction in aid trucks entering Gaza if additional remains were not returned, though that threat was eased after some bodies were handed over.

Hamas returned four bodies Monday, including Guy Iluz, Bipin Joshi, Yossi Sharabi, and Capt. Daniel Peretz. On Tuesday, the group handed over three more hostages' remains — Tamir Nimrodi, Uriel Baruch, and Eitan Levi — along with a fourth body that was not among the hostages.

More returns are expected Wednesday as a multinational task force searches for additional remains.

The 21 hostages whose bodies are still unreturned include Israeli, American, and foreign nationals killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack or in captivity.

The Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel saw an estimated 1,200 Israelis slaughtered by Hamas and an estimated 250 hostages taken by the terrorists to be used as human shields — an effort to try to keep Israel from responding, or blame Israel for how it responded.

Hamas has hidden in schools, humanitarian camps, and under hospitals to fuel global criticism against Israel in the war that had lasted more than two years before President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan was put into action early this week.