The body of one hostage in the Gaza Strip announced that it had received the Israellate yesterday (04.11.2025), within the framework of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
As it became known, the coffin with the hostage, which was accompanied by Israeli soldiers “crossed the border to his state Israel and is headed to the National Forensic Institute, where the identification process will take place.”
Following the completion of the identification process by Israel’s national forensic institute, the military “informed the family of the hostage who fell in combat, Sergeant Itai Chen, that their relative was repatriated to Israel and identified,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said via X Benjamin Netanyahu.
IDF representatives informed the family of fallen hostage Armored Corps Staff-Sgt. Itay Chen, of blessed memory, that their loved one has been returned to Israel and that his identification has been completed.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 4, 2025
His office Netanyahu had announced a short time earlier that the coffin containing the hostage’s body had been handed over by the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip to the army and the Shin Bet, the internal security service, before being taken to Israel.
Since the beginning of the truce, Hamas released the last 20 living hostages held in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and began returning the bodies of those killed.
Of the 28 bodies of hostages, 20 have already been handed over by the Hamas.