Israel confirms latest body returned from Gaza is dead hostage
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# Israel confirms latest body returned from Gaza is dead hostage
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Hostages and Missing Families Forum
Eliyahu Margalit was killed on 7 October, the Israeli military said
Israel's military has confirmed that the latest remains handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza and returned to Israel are those of a dead hostage.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the returned hostage is Eliyahu Margalit, 75, who was killed on 7 October and his body taken into Gaza from Nir Oz kibbutz.
His death was announced by Israel in December 2023, a month after his daughter Nili - who was also taken hostage - was released during a temporary truce.
Mr Margalit, who was known to his family and friends as Churchill, is the tenth dead hostage to be returned from Gaza. The remains of a further 18 people have yet to be repatriated.
In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum described Mr Margalit as "a cowboy at heart" who managed a cattle branch and horse stables at Nir Oz for many years.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement on Friday night that its team had taken "all possible measures to ensure the deceased are managed with respect", and that Israeli forensic authorities would identify the remains in Tel Aviv.
There has been fury in Israel that Hamas has not returned all of the bodies, in line with last week's ceasefire deal \- though the US has downplayed the suggestion it amounts to a breach.
On Friday night, the IDF again stressed that Hamas must "uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the hostages".
Hamas has said it remained committed to the ceasefire, including "keenness to hand over all remaining corpses".
The Palestinian group accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of impeding its ability to search for hostages' remains by not allowing heavy machinery and diggers into Gaza. It has blamed Israel for making the task of finding bodies difficult, because Isr