Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch were identified as the two slain Gaza hostages whose remains were returned by Hamas after over two years in captivity, the Prime Minister's Office and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed on Thursday night.
The remains of the two slain hostages were transferred into Israeli territory by the IDF and the Shin Bet on Thursday evening just before 5:30 p.m., the Prime Minister's Office said, and were identified at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine.
The Red Cross collected the remains of two hostages from Hamas and transferred them to the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).
This comes after Hamas stated that it would hand over the remains of two Gaza hostages at approximately 4 p.m. The IDF announced the handover at 4:46 p.m.
"We are determined to return all of our fallen hostages. If I'm not mistaken, we are receiving two more now – we will not rest until we bring them all home," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Thursday at an IDF combat officer graduation ceremony.
The Gaza terror organization claimed that it uncovered the remains of two hostages during excavations in Gaza City on Tuesday evening and named them in the announcement.
"Seven hundred and fifty five days after the massacre, no hostages from Kibbutz Nir Oz remain in Hamas captivity," a statement released by Kibbutz Nir Oz following the identification of Cooper and Baruch's remains read.
"Now, with the return of the last hostage from the kibbutz, we can begin to process, heal, and mourn the 65 loved ones who will never return." the statement went on. "Alongside our painful closure, there are still 11 families waiting for their loved ones. We will continue to work together with them to bring everyone back, until the last hostage."
Hamas's reburial and staged discovery of slain hostage Ofir Tzarfati's remains
On Tuesday, the IDF published footage of Hamas's reburial and staged discovery of slain hostage Ofir Tzarfati's remains.
The video, filmed by an IDF drone that had been in the area, shows Hamas members placing Tzarfati's remains in a freshly dug hole before covering the remains with dirt.
They then proceeded to "dig" up the remains and called over members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to witness the discovery.