Israel's Institute of Forensic Medicine made a public statement on Thursday, confirming that slain hostage Oded Lifshitz's body had been identified and that he was killed over a year ago.
The institute did not address the identities of the other three slain hostages.
"The National Center for Forensic Medicine is working to identify all the murdered and has been mobilized to identify all the hostages who are returning to graves in Israel," the Head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Dr. Chen Kugel, said.
"We have been working since this morning to give the families a definitive answer. The institute's employees continue the work of identification," he added.
"This is a difficult moment for the family, for us, for the entire State of Israel. We send our condolences to the family. Of course, we all hope for the return of all the kidnapped," Dr. Kugel concluded.