JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities confirmed Thursday that the remains of a hostage returned the previous day from Gaza are of a Tanzanian agricultural student in Israel who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023 in the Hamas-led attack that started the war.
The development was the latest step forward under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains were identified as those of Joshua Loitu Mollel and
that his family has been notified.
Mollel, 21, had arrived at kibbutz Nahal Oz only 19 days before the attack, after finishing agricultural college back home and looking to gain experience in Israel he could apply in Tanzania. He is survived by two parents and four siblings in Tanzania.
"Joshua’s return offers some comfort to a family that has endured unbearable uncertainty for over two years,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement.
There are now six bodies of hostages that remain in Gaza. Militants have released 22 bodies of hostages since the ceasefire began last month. Among the six bodies still in Gaza is that of Sudthisak Rinthalak, agricultural worker from Thailand, the only non-Israeli.
Hamas returned 20 living hostages to Israel on Oct. 13. The subsequent exchanges of the dead are the central component of the initial phase of the deal which requires Hamas return all hostage remains as quickly as possible. The exchanges have gone ahead even as Israel and Hamas have accused each other of breaching other terms of the agreement.
Israel has handed over 285 bodies, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which handles the exchanges.
Health officials in Gaza have said identifying the remains handed over by Israel is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits. Israel has not disclosed how many bodies it is holding or where they were recovered, but has been returning 15 each time the remains of an Israeli hostage are returned from Gaza.
Hamas has said that recovering bodies is complicated by the widespread devastation in the coastal enclave and has returned one to three bodies every few days. Israel has pushed to speed up the returns and in certain cases has said the remains were not those of hostages.
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Associated Press writer Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this story.
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Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
