Israel
Body of final female hostage returned as Hamas delays further releases
The remains Inbar Hayman, as well as those of IDF officer Sergeant Major Muhammad al-Atarash, were handed over to the military last night
October 16, 2025 08:25
The remains Inbar Hayman, as well as those of IDF officer Sergeant Major Muhammad al-Atarash, were handed over to the military last night
October 16, 2025 08:25A further two bodies of Israeli hostages, including the last remaining female hostage, have been returned to Israel.
Inbar Hayman and Sergeant Major Muhammad al-Atarash were both killed by terrorists during the October 7 attacks.
Hayman was murdered at the Nova music festival and her body was abducted to Gaza, the IDF said. Al-Atarash, a Bedouin tracker in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, fell in combat on October 7, and his body was abducted, according to the army.
Their release brings the total number of deceased hostages returned under the latest ceasefire to nine, with 19 believed to remain in Gaza.
Hamas has claimed that it has now reached all of the bodies that it can, saying that the rest are buried beneath rubble and will take longer to recover.
Israel has accused the terror group of violating the ceasefire by failing to return all the hostages within the allotted window, threatening to reduce the flow of aid to the Strip in retaliation.
But, during a White House briefing, US officials denied that this was the case, with one Trump adviser saying: "We’ve heard a lot of people saying ‘Hamas violated the deal, because not all the bodies have been returned’.
"The understanding we had with them was we get all the live hostages out, which they did honour that.
"Right now, we have a mechanism in place where we’re working closely with mediators… to do our best to get as many bodies out as possible."
"It would have been almost impossible for Hamas — even if they knew where all the 28 bodies were — to mobilise and get them all," added another official.
However, more accusations of violations were prompted when Israel discovered that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas was not, in fact, that of an Israeli hostage.
The IDF said that examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv revealed that some of the remains "do not match any of the hostages".
In response, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused Hamas of "playing games" with the releases.
"Enough with the disgrace. Moments after opening the crossings to hundreds of trucks, Hamas very quickly returned to its known methods – to lie, to cheat and to abuse families and the bodies," he fumed.
Israel, meanwhile, has handed back the bodies of 45 Palestinians in return so far.
Authorities in Jerusalem did not provide any identification with the bodies, providing numbers in place of names, prompting criticism from doctors at Nasser Hospital, who are working to identify them.
The medics also claimed that some of the bodies displayed evidence of mistreatment, including beatings, but this has not been independently verified.
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