Volkswacht Bodensee - Israel identifies dead hostage returned Saturday

The military "informed the family of hostage Ronen Engel... that their loved one has been returned to Israel and his identification has been completed", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Israel would spare no effort "until all the fallen hostages are repatriated", it added.

Engel, a resident of Nir Oz kibbutz, was abducted from his home and killed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and his body taken to Gaza. The Israeli army announced his death on December 1, 2023.

He was one of two dead hostages returned by Hamas on Saturday as delays in finding bodies buried under the rubble of Gaza threaten the fragile ceasefire.

Engel's wife, Karina Engel-Bart, and their teenagers Mika and Yuval were abducted as the family hid in their safe room. His family were later freed during the first truce.

Engel was a photojournalist and volunteer ambulance driver for Magen David Adom (MADA), the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross in the southern Negev region.

Under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement, Hamas has returned all 20 surviving hostages and the remains of 12 deceased ones.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas was to hand over all of the hostages, dead and alive, before Monday at 0900 GMT.

Hamas has said it needs time and technical assistance to recover the remaining bodies from under Gaza's rubble.

A.Ammann--VB