Israeli authorities have confirmed they received the body of a deceased hostage from the Red Cross on Monday evening, as President Donald Trump’s 48-hour deadline looms.
The body was handed over to the IDF and Shin Bet by the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip. Hamas still has the bodies of 12 Israeli hostages in its custody. Trump’s deadline will expire Monday night. Hamas has made no mention of the identity of the deceased hostage set to be released.
‘Within the framework of the Al-Aqsa Flood prisoner exchange deal, the Martyr Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades will hand over the body of one of the occupation prisoners, which was recovered today in the Gaza Strip, at 9 PM Gaza time,’ Hamas announced in a statement.
Trump acknowledged on social media Saturday that some of the deceased hostages are ‘hard to reach.’
‘Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,’ Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. ‘Perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said, ‘Both sides would be treated fairly,’ that only applies if they comply with their obligations. Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely.’
Hours before Trump’s post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with the families of Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, two U.S. citizens who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
Their bodies are among those still being held by Hamas.
‘We will not forget the lives of the hostages who died in the captivity of Hamas,’ Rubio wrote in an X post. ‘We will not rest until their—and all—remains are returned.’
Authorities believed Chen, a 19-year-old dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, but was later declared dead by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Huckabee noted Rubio’s visit to Israel was ‘very productive in moving forward’ the U.S.-brokered Gaza peace plan, adding the plan cannot work until all hostages, living and deceased, are released.
Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
