Israel has completed the identification of the remains of hostages, Chief Sgt. First Class (res.) Tamir Adar and Arie Zalmanowicz, the Prime Minister’s Office, announced on Wednesday. Adar, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, fought bravely to defend his home against Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre in 2023.
His mother, Yael, posted on social media, “After 746 days, Tamir has been returned to us. Tamir is home.” She added, “The pain of our loss is immense; the relief of his return is great. Tamir is free to be buried in his own land.”
She added, “This morning, my heart aches and is wounded for the amazing child I lost. I am grateful for what he left behind and his legacy that will still be spoken about. My heart goes out to 13 other families who are waiting to be buried, and we must not leave them alone until each of them is given a proper burial and eternal rest.”
Arie Zalmanowicz, one of the founders of Nir Oz, was taken from his home on the morning of the October 7 massacre by Hamas terrorists rampaging through the kibbutz. According to testimonies by relatives, Arie was hiding in a safe room when he was found by the attackers. He was taken into the Gaza Strip without his glasses or hearing aid.
The remains of the hostages were escorted out of Gaza by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and transferred to the National Center of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir for identification by Israel Police officers.
Hamas announced that it would release the remains of two hostages shortly after US President Donald Trump stated that he would send forces into Gaza to “straighten out Hamas” if the terror group did not abide by the ceasefire agreement. In a statement given with US Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner stated, “We are making progress on getting bodies of deceased hostages out of Gaza.”
US-brokered Gaza deal
“It is the focus of everybody here to get those bodies back to their families for proper burial,” Vance said, adding that retrieving the remains would take time, as many of them are buried underground. According to the US-brokered Gaza deal, which Israel ratified on October 9, Hamas would have 72 hours to release all the hostages, both living and deceased.
The remains of 15 hostages continue to be held by the terror organization in Gaza nearly two weeks later.
Hamas claimed on Thursday that the return of the remains may take time, as some were buried in tunnels destroyed by Israel, and others remain under the rubble of buildings that Israel bombed. The retrieval of the remaining hostages required equipment to remove rubble, which was currently unavailable due to Israel’s ban on the entry of such tools, Hamas added.
“We know for certain that Hamas can easily release a significant number of hostages in accordance with the agreement. What they are doing now is a fundamental violation of that agreement,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said.
Reuters and Amichai Stein contributed to this report.