Israel receives two more hostage bodies from Red Cross
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has handed over two more bodies of presumed Israeli hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Ronen Engel Photo: Kibbutz Nir Oz
Israel said it had received two more hostage bodies late on Saturday, meaning 12 out of 28 bodies have been handed over to Israel under a US-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal agreed between Israel and Hamas last week.
One of the bodies returned to Israel overnight was identified as Ronen Engel, Kibbutz Nir Oz announced on Sunday morning.
Engel was killed while “protecting his family and fighting terrorists” during the October 7 attack, the kibbutz said.
Engel, a volunteer photographer for Magen David Adom and motorcycle enthusiast, tried to defend his family when terrorists broke into their home and was taken hostage.
His wife, Karina, and their daughters, Mika and Yuval, were also abducted separately. In early December 2023 — four days after his wife and daughters were freed in a hostage deal — the family learned that Engel had been murdered while in Hamas captivity.
The remains of a second hostage are being examined at the National Centre for Forensic Medicine.
