The body that Hamas handed over to Israel on Monday night has been conclusively identified as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, Hy”d—a victim who was already recovered and buried nearly two years ago. The National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv confirmed the finding Tuesday morning, determining that the remains were not those of any of the 13 deceased hostages Hamas had been obligated to return under the agreement. The Tzarfati family has been informed.
Tzarfati was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, during Hamas’s brutal onslaught and was murdered soon after. His body was retrieved at the end of November 2023 and buried in Israel. In March 2024, additional remains were recovered and reinterred, and several months later, Hamas published a photograph of his body. The latest so-called “return” marks the third time the family has been forced to confront their son’s grave.
“We went to sleep last night with anticipation and hope that another family would close an agonizing two-year circle and bring their loved one home for burial. But once again, deception has been inflicted upon our family as we try to heal. This morning we were shown video footage of our beloved son’s remains being removed, buried, and handed over to the Red Cross – an abhorrent manipulation designed to sabotage the deal and abandon the effort to bring all the hostages home,” the family said in a painful statement.
They added, “This is the third time we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son. The circle supposedly ‘closed’ back in December 2023, but it never truly closes. Since then, we have lived with a wound that constantly reopens, between memory and longing, between bereavement and mission.” The statement concluded with a plea: “Our Ofir went to Nova to celebrate his birthday and never returned. We ask all the people of Israel not to forget the fallen, not to forget the hostages, and to continue supporting the families until their return and beyond – only then will we have a future. Only then can we continue to live in our country.”
The Prime Minister’s Office condemned Hamas’s actions as a “clear violation of the agreement.” It added, “Prime Minister Netanyahu will hold a security discussion with the heads of the security establishment to discuss Israel’s steps in response to the violations.”
Outraged hostage families demanded an emergency meeting with Netanyahu, saying Hamas’s deceit must not go unanswered. “Hamas’s repeated violations and the IDF’s documentation prove what we have known and stated clearly and unequivocally: Hamas knows the location of the hostages and continues to act with contempt, deceiving the United States and mediators while dishonoring our loved ones. The Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations,” declared the Hostages Families Forum.
“We are demanding an urgent and immediate meeting with the Prime Minister today, in which he will present a comprehensive plan to bring our loved ones home – every last one of them. Returning all hostages is the state’s obligation and a moral imperative – Hamas cannot be given a pass for violating the agreement. Success in implementing this agreement will be measured solely by the return of every last hostage – the people of Israel will not leave anyone behind and will accept nothing less,” the group emphasized.
Late Monday night, the casket containing the remains was handed over to IDF and ISA forces inside Gaza and brought across the border into Israel. After a brief military ceremony attended by the IDF Chief Rabbi, the remains were transferred to the National Center of Forensic Medicine. According to the Health Ministry, “the casket arrived for identification and for investigation of the cause and circumstances of death,” with forensic experts and laboratory staff “prepared to provide the fastest possible response, with the utmost sensitivity regarding information shared with the families.”
A Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the body had been found earlier that day in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood and turned over to Israel around 9 p.m., just two hours before the deadline set by President Donald Trump. But IDF soldiers operating nearby told Arutz Sheva that they personally witnessed terrorists staging the handover—burying the body themselves and pretending to “discover” it moments before calling the Red Cross.
The deception followed reports earlier Monday from Asharq Al-Awsat that Hamas told mediators it could locate between seven and nine deceased hostages buried beneath rubble in Gaza. Israeli intelligence has confirmed that Hamas knows the locations of at least eight such bodies and could retrieve them at any time.
To facilitate recovery, Israel had recently approved Hamas and Red Cross search operations inside IDF-controlled zones of Gaza, beyond the so-called “yellow line.” Red Cross and Hamas teams began working in Rafah and were expected to expand operations to Gaza City, joined by Egyptian units authorized to enter the enclave.
As the drama unfolded, Trump warned Hamas that the world’s patience was running out. On Saturday, he issued a 48-hour ultimatum: “Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action.” He added, “Some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others they can return now, and, for some reason, they are not.”
“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.”
{Matzav.com}
