The U.S.-brokered ceasefire that began Oct. 10 has allowed militants to return the remains of 25 hostages, but three sets of remains remain in Gaza and recovery is slow. Hamas says rubble from Israel’s offensive is blocking access; Israel accuses militants of delay and has warned of consequences. The article profiles the three individuals — Ran Gvili (24), Dror Or (52), and Sudthisak Rinthalak — and notes that Gaza has identified just 95 of 330 bodies returned by Israel due to limited forensic resources.
Three Hostage Remains Still in Gaza: Who They Were and Why Recovery Is Slow
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire that began Oct. 10 has allowed militants to return the remains of 25 hostages, but three sets of remains remain in Gaza and recovery is slow. Hamas says rubble from Israel’s offensive is blocking access; Israel accuses militants of delay and has warned of consequences. The article profiles the three individuals — Ran Gvili (24), Dror Or (52), and Sudthisak Rinthalak — and notes that Gaza has identified just 95 of 330 bodies returned by Israel due to limited forensic resources.
02:21 PM, 11/14/2025Conflict
Three Hostage Remains Still in Gaza: Who They Were and Why Recovery Is Slow
Since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, Palestinian militants have returned the remains of 25 hostages. However, the recovery of the final three sets of remains called for under the truce is proceeding slowly amid competing claims over access and responsibility.
Hamas says many of the bodies are inaccessible because they are buried beneath rubble left by Israel’s two-year military offensive in Gaza. Israel accuses militants of delaying the process and has warned it could resume military operations or restrict humanitarian aid if the remaining remains are not handed over. In the most recent transfer, militants returned the remains of Meny Godard, who was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri; his wife, Ayelet, was killed in the attack.
As part of the exchanges, Israel has returned the bodies of 330 Palestinians to Gaza. Gaza health officials say they have struggled to identify most of those bodies because of limited access to DNA testing kits and other forensic resources. The Gaza Health Ministry — part of the Hamas-run administration but staffed by medical professionals — reports that 95 of the returned bodies have been identified; independent experts generally consider the ministry’s records to be reliable. Israel has not publicly detailed the identities of the 330 bodies it transferred, and it is unclear whether they include people killed on Oct. 7 in Israel, Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody, or bodies recovered by Israeli forces during the conflict.
Below are profiles of the three people whose remains have not yet been recovered.
Ran Gvili, 24
Ran Gvili, 24, served in an elite police unit. He had been recovering from a broken shoulder sustained in a motorcycle accident but rushed to assist colleagues during the Oct. 7 attacks. After helping people flee the Nova music festival, he was killed while fighting at another location and his body was taken to Gaza. The Israeli military confirmed his death about four months later. He is survived by his parents and a sister.
Dror Or, 52
Dror Or, 52, worked for 15 years at the dairy farm on Kibbutz Be’eri and rose to become its manager. Family and friends remember him as an expert cheesemaker and a devoted father of three. On Oct. 7, his family sheltered in a safe room when militants set their house on fire; Dror and his wife, Yonat, were killed. Two of their children — Noam (then 16) and Alma (then 13) — were abducted and later released during the November 2023 ceasefire.
Sudthisak Rinthalak
Sudthisak Rinthalak was an agricultural worker from Thailand employed at Kibbutz Be’eri. Media reports say he was divorced and had worked in Israel since 2017. On Oct. 7, a group of 31 Thai workers were seized — the largest contingent of foreign nationals taken hostage during the attacks — and most were released during subsequent ceasefires. The Thai Foreign Ministry has said that, in addition to those taken hostage, 46 Thai nationals have been killed in the conflict.
The slow pace of recovery and identification underscores ongoing humanitarian and forensic challenges in Gaza, where rubble, limited resources and contested access complicate efforts to return the deceased to their families.
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