Israel announces identification of body of hostage handed over by Hamas

Ronen Engel, 54, resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz (southern Israel, close to the Gaza Strip), was kidnapped from his home and killed on October 7, 2023, when Hamas commandos launched an attack on Israeli territory. His body was transported to Gaza, and his death was announced by Israel on December 1, 2023.

His wife, Karina, and his two daughters, Yuval and Mika, were also kidnapped on the same date and released during the first ceasefire agreement with Hamas in November 2023, after 52 days in captivity.

Two bodies, including Engel’s, were handed over by the International Red Cross to Israeli security forces in Gaza on Saturday night before being transferred to a forensic center for identification.

According to the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which came into force on October 10 after two years of war that devastated the Gaza Strip, Hamas was to hand over all hostages — living and dead — that it still held in its power by October 13.

The Palestinian Islamic movement freed the last 20 hostages alive on schedule, but returned only 12 of the 28 bodies it had in its custody.

Threat to ceasefire

This Sunday, Hamas rejected a statement from the US State Department made on Saturday, according to which there was “credible information” that the Palestinian group was about to violate the ceasefire agreement with Israel.