Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported Friday night that the body handed over by the Palestinian Resistance to the occupation authorities belongs to captive Eliyahu Margalit.

According to the broadcaster, Hamas continues to hold at least 18 bodies of Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip after transferring 10 bodies to the Israeli occupation forces in previous exchanges. The Resistance had previously said that not all captives' bodies are in accessible areas, either because it lost contact with the teams protecting them, or because of destruction caused by the Israeli occupation.

The Israeli occupation army had earlier confirmed it had received a body from Gaza, saying it was transferred to the forensic medical center for identification. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also announced that the body had been delivered through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Israeli Channel 12 reported that Tel Aviv expects Hamas to return more bodies next week, as part of the ongoing arrangements linked to the ceasefire deal.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is scheduled to travel to the region on Sunday to discuss the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to Israeli media reports.

The Israeli public broadcaster further stated that the US administration assured Tel Aviv that the issue of returning the bodies of Israeli captives remains “under active discussion.”

Flawed intelligence behind captives' deaths

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An Israeli security source revealed to Yedioth Ahronoth on Friday that intelligence regarding the locations of Israeli captives in Gaza was unreliable, casting doubt on the accuracy of operations aimed at retrieving them.

According to the source, the intelligence provided was "not 100% accurate," and the locations of the captives often shifted, sometimes just minutes before airstrikes were launched.

This lack of precise information has reportedly resulted in the deaths of some captives during Israeli airstrikes, as their locations had changed or the intelligence had failed to reflect their real-time whereabouts.

The source emphasized that the occupation's military has carried out several attempts within the Gaza Strip over the past two years to locate and recover the prisoners. However, the dynamic nature of their detention sites has made such operations exceedingly difficult.

The Israeli military's strategy, relying heavily on aerial bombardments based on incomplete or outdated intelligence, has drawn internal criticism, especially as the consequences have led to the loss of Israeli captives during these missions.

'Israel' killed tens of its own captives in war on Gaza

Earlier in March, a New York Times (NYT) report revealed that more than 40 Israeli captives held by Palestinian Resistance factions were killed in captivity by Israeli occupation forces since October 7, 2023. The analysis said 41 out of 251 Israeli soldiers and settlers captured by Hamas and other Palestinian Resistance groups were killed by "Israeli bombing and friendly fire."

"A few [captives] were almost certainly killed in the first days of the war, before it was possible to seal a truce. But many others have died since the brief first cease-fire collapsed in November 2023 and the fighting continued in a war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians," the report said.

"The corpses of 40 others have been returned to Israel in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees following ceasefire agreements in November 2023 and January of this year," it further highlighted.

The US daily's analysis was based on forensic reports, military investigations into the captives’ deaths, and interviews with over a dozen Israeli soldiers and officials, along with a senior official and seven relatives of the captives.