Israel identifies latest hostage remains returned by Hamas from Gaza as Tanzanian student

This undated photo shows hostage Joshua Loitu Mollel, who was abducted and brought to Gaza in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum via AP)

JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities confirmed Thursday that the remains of a hostage returned the previous day from Gaza are of a Tanzanian agricultural student in Israel who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023 in the Hamas-led attack that started the war.

The development was the latest step forward under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the remains were identified as those of Joshua Loitu Mollel and that his family has been notified.

Mollel, 21, had arrived at kibbutz Nahal Oz only 19 days before the attack, after finishing agricultural college back home and looking to gain experience in Israel he could apply in Tanzania. He is survived by two parents and four siblings in Tanzania.

“Joshua’s return offers some comfort to a family that has endured unbearable uncertainty for over two years,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement.

Bodies still to be returned

There are now six bodies of hostages that remain in Gaza. The territory’s militants have released 22 bodies of hostages since the ceasefire began last month. Among the six bodies still in Gaza is that of Sudthisak Rinthalak, an agricultural worker from Thailand, the only non-Israeli.

Hamas returned 20 living hostages to Israel on Oct. 13. The subsequent exchanges of the dead are the central component of the initial phase of the deal which requires Hamas return all hostage remains as quickly as possible.

The exchanges have gone ahead even as Israel and Hamas have accused each other of breaching other terms of the agreement.

Israel has handed over 285 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which handles the exchanges.

Health officials in Gaza have said identifying the remains handed over by Israel is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits. Israel has not disclosed how many bodies it is holding or where they were recovered, but has been returning 15 each time the remains of an Israeli hostage are returned from Gaza.

Hamas has said that recovering bodies is complicated by the widespread devastation in the coastal enclave and has returned one to three bodies every few days. Israel has pushed to speed up the returns and in certain cases has said the remains were not those of hostages.

Another border concern for Israel

Separately, Israeli concerns over weapons smuggling with the use of drones along its 200-kilometre (130-mile) border with Egypt prompted the the country’s defence minister on Thursday to order a border area be designated as a closed-off military zone to curb the illegal activity.

Israel Katz said troops would also be authorized to fire on smugglers operating in the zone, according to a statement from his office.

“Anyone who enters the unauthorized area will be harmed,” said Katz.

Katz on Wednesday met with top military and security officials who also agreed to work on designating arms smuggling as a terrorist threat so that “security forces deploy appropriate tools to combat the threat.”

Gaza stabilization force in the works

U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan calls for an international stabilization force for Gaza and diplomats are working to define its role, persuade Arab countries to take part, and win wider international support.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the force would need the legitimacy of a UN Security Council mandate.

The United States said Wednesday that representatives from Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates met with 10 non-permanent UN Security Council members about getting support for a UN Security Council resolution on Gaza.

Also, the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Wednesday the bloc is looking to extend the mandates of its two current missions helping the Palestinian Authority train a police force and bolster security procedures as a way to contribute to the stabilization force.

Released Israeli hostage alleges sexual abuse

A released Israeli hostage said he was stripped naked and beaten by Palestinian militants who held him for two years in Gaza. His testimony makes him the latest of several hostages released from Gaza to report being sexually abused in captivity.

Parts of Ron Braslavski’s account was published in the Daily Mail, ahead of the full interview set to air on Israel’s Channel 13 later on Thursday night.

In the clips, Braslavski said his captors had starved and sexually abused him and he recounts how he prayed for the abuse to stop.

“It was sexual violence and its main purpose was to humiliate me,” he said. “While I was there -- every day, every beating -- I’d say to myself, `I survived another day in hell.’”

Braslavski was a guard at the Nova musical festival and was captured by the militants who overran the grounds during the October 2023 attack on southern Israel. He was released last month as part of the ceasefire agreement.

The 2023 attack killed about 1,200 people in Israel and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel sweeping military offensive has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

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Melanie Lidman And Audrey Horowitz, The Associated Press

Associated Press writer Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this story.