Hamas says it doesn’t have any more hostage remains to hand over

Published October 16, 2025 9:19am ET



Hamas announced on Wednesday that it had handed over all the hostages’ remains it could access, presenting a major hurdle to the Gaza peace deal.

The group has only handed over the remains of 10 people, one of whom Israel declared not a hostage, of the estimated 28 dead hostages. The original 20-point peace plan called for all living and dead hostages to be turned over within 72 hours, but the timeline for the dead hostages’ release quickly became more pliable as Hamas outlined the difficulty in recovering them. On Wednesday night, Hamas said it handed over all the remains it had without additional equipment.

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