Tal Haimi Identified in Returned Body

Israeli officials confirmed that the body of Tal Haimi, killed defending Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Oct. 7, was returned to Israel from Gaza and the Prime Minister’s Office expressed national grief. Hamas — and in one report the PFLP — handed a casket said to contain a deceased hostage to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which transferred it to IDF forces; the remains were inspected, draped in an Israeli flag and escorted to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for formal identification, which officials said may take up to two days. The handover is part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that officials say has seen all 20 living hostages returned and 12 deceased hostages transferred so far, leaving roughly 15–16 sets of remains still believed to be in Gaza. Israel has begun marking a ceasefire “yellow line” inside Gaza to clarify troop withdrawals after deadly incidents near the boundary, and both sides have accused each other of violations that have strained the agreement. Israeli leaders have urged Hamas to fulfill the deal even as Israeli intelligence and Hamas trade claims about the difficulty of recovering all remains amid heavy destruction and unexploded ordnance.