Hamas to Hand Over Israeli Soldier’s Body at 9 p.m., Admits Drone Footage “Was a Decoy”

Hamas’s military wing announced Thursday evening that it will hand over the body of an Israeli soldier at 9 p.m., in coordination with the Red Cross in Gaza’s Shuja’iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

The announcement follows a week of confusion and denials after Israeli military drone footage revealed that Hamas had staged a fake body-recovery operation in the same area days earlier. The video showed terrorists carrying a stretcher in what was presented by Hamas media as the return of a fallen Israeli soldier.

Responding to the exposure, Hamas admitted Thursday that it had deliberately misled Israel. “Because the enemy monitors body-recovery efforts with drones and then attacks those locations, violating the ceasefire, Hamas used deception tactics,” the group said in a statement quoted. “We deceived the enemy to prevent it from obtaining information.”

Thursday marked the fourth consecutive day that Hamas operatives, accompanied by International Red Cross teams, conducted searches for the remains of Israeli soldiers in Shuja’iya, some of which reportedly occurred beyond the “yellow line,” the IDF-controlled buffer zone in eastern Gaza.

Israeli officials have not commented on the expected transfer, but preparations are underway to receive the fallen soldier’s body later tonight.