One Back, Two To Go

The slow roll of returning the remaining hostage remains got closer to being completed as Israel confirmed that the remains of a body they received yesterday was indeed one of the three left as we read in a report from the Jewish News Syndicate:

The body returned to Israel on Tuesday from Gaza has been identified as that of Dror Or, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Wednesday. The identification was completed in coordination with the National Center for Forensic Medicine, the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate.

The Prime Minister’s office stated what all of Israel feels now:

“The Government of Israel shares in the deep sorrow of the Or family and all the families of the abducted fallen,” said the PMO.

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) also made a statement about his return:

“The IDF expresses deep condolences to the families, continues to make every effort to return all the deceased hostages, and is prepared for the continued implementation of the agreement,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

The details of his capture and then murder by Hamas was detailed for us:

Or, 48 at the time, was murdered by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists and his body abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, 2023, after his family was forced to flee their burning home. His wife, Yonat, was killed the same day, and two of his children, Alma (13 at the time) and Noam (17 at the time), were taken hostage and later returned alive as part of a ceasefire agreement in November 2023. The IDF officially determined his death on May 2, 2024.

If you feel any sympathy for Hamas, save it. These less than humane savages took away the mother and father of two teenagers and then most likely separated them from their father who they murdered seven months later.

Or is survived by his children, Yahli, Noam and Alma, parents Dorit and Yuval and siblings Elad and Dana. He was the last hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri remaining in Gaza.

The family this mother and father leave behind can now have the closure they longed for:

“A gifted chef and cheesemaker, Dror studied at the Tadmor Culinary School and worked in Tel Aviv restaurants. After moving to Be’eri, he became central to the kibbutz’s dairy—studying cheesemaking in Italy & France and running its catering operations with creativity and care,” the Israel Foreign Ministry stated in an X post. After 781 days in terrorist captivity, “Dror Or is finally home—for the dignified burial he was denied for too long. May his memory be a blessing,” the post continued. Israeli authorities received the coffin containing Or’s body from the Red Cross in Gaza on Tuesday. The Red Cross delivered the body to Israel.

They Broke The Deal

It must also be stated that this body should have been turned over in the 72 hour window once the terrorists agreed to the deal way back in October. They may say that finding the bodies is difficult, but when they turned over the body of a soldier they killed in 2014 they let us know that they consider these remains to be very valuable, so much so that they kept it where they could find it for over 11 years. And they want us to believe they can’t find these recently killed bodies? I call shenanigans on this deception. They knew where they were when they killed them and I am certain they stored them in the Gaza City area to bargain for in the future. Regardless, Or is back. And Prime Minister Netanyahu reminds us that Hamas needs to return the final two bodies:

Netanyahu’s office said Hamas must fulfill its obligations under the ceasefire agreement to return the bodies of all slain hostages, vowing that Israel “will not compromise” until all captives are brought home.

Even when they announce they find a body, they take their own sweet time to actually return it:

Earlier in the day, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced that they intended to return the remains of a murdered hostage at 4 p.m. local time. The previous handover took place on Nov. 13, when Hamas transferred the body of Meny Godard. The terror organizations’ announcement came minutes after the PMO said on Tuesday that it viewed with “great severity” any delay in releasing the body.

The PMO released this statement about the delay:

“In light of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s (PIJ) announcement that it has located the remains of a deceased hostage, Israel views with great severity the delay in immediately transferring them to its custody,” it said.

“This is an additional violation of the agreement,” it added. “Israel demands the immediate return of the three deceased hostages, who are still being held in the Gaza Strip.”

The PIJ knew about the body on Monday and waited until the next day to send the remains back:

“Today, we found the body of one of the enemy prisoners during search operations in areas controlled by the Zionist army in the central Gaza Strip,” the Al-Quds Brigades stated, per AFP reporting.

So you can pray specifically for the last two bodies, here is who they are:

As of Wednesday morning, the bodies of two murdered hostages remained in Gaza: Israel Police counter-terrorism officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

So how long will they take to suddenly find these last two remains? I expect they will drag it out until the end of the year or longer and maybe for months more knowing their previous tactics. Hopefully US President Donald Trump will put an end to their blatant stalling and give them a hard timeline or else he’ll give the IDF the greenlight to finish the job. I’m certain the IDF is more than ready to ramp up the attacks.