Israel says body handed over by Hamas 'does not match any October 7 hostage'

The Israeli military has said it doesn't recognise one of the bodies handed over by Hamas. After a hostage exchange, officials in Israel said one body "does not match any of the hostages".

Examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine led to the shocking discovery. The IDF said in a statement: "Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages." The claim adds to tensions over the fragile ceasefire brokered between Hamas and Israel by US President Donald Trump.

Four bodies were handed over by Hamas in a bid to ease pressure on the truce.

The first four were returned on Monday, just hours after the remaining 20 hostages who survived a two-year ordeal were released. In all, Israel was awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 deceased hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded earlier today that Hamas fulfil the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal about the return of the hostages' bodies.

He said: "We will not compromise on this and will not stop our efforts until we return the last deceased hostage, until the last one."

It is not the first time Hamas has returned the wrong body to Israel. During a previous ceasefire, the militant group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons.

Tests showed one of the bodies returned was a Palestinian woman. Ms Bibas's body was returned a day later and positively identified.

Hazem Kassem, a spokesperson for Hamas, wrote on the Telegram messaging app that the group was working to return the bodies of the hostages as agreed in the ceasefire deal.

He accused Israel of violating the agreement with shootings on Tuesday in Gaza City and Rafah.

Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military was operating along the deployment lines laid out in the deal.

Mr Katz warned anyone approaching the deployment line would be targeted as he said had happened on Tuesday with several militants.

Meanwhile, two hostages whose bodies were released from Gaza are due to be buried on Wednesday.

Family invited Israelis to line a road as the body of one of the hostages was taken from a forensics institute to a cemetery north of Tel Aviv.

In the past, tens of thousands of Israelis have lined the streets to show respect to bodies of hostages on their way for burial, standing silently with Israeli flags.