Jerusalem, 28 october, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel on Tuesday released drone footage showing Hamas operatives staging a fake discovery of the remains of Israeli hostage ofir tzarfati in Gaza City before handing them over to the Red Cross.
The video, filmed by a military drone, shows Hamas operatives removing a white body bag from a building in the Shejaiya neighborhood at 4:07 p.m., placing it in a pre-dug pit, and covering it with sand. Six minutes later, at 4:13 p.m., Red Cross personnel arrived. The operatives then used a tractor to uncover the same bag, pretending to “find” it for the first time in front of the organization’s representatives.
“They covered it with dirt and called the Red Cross,” soldiers who viewed the footage said. “When the organization’s members arrived with cameras, the terrorists ‘discovered’ the body.” The IDF said the entire incident was recorded and shared in real time with U.S. officials stationed in Kiryat Gat.
According to Israeli assessments, the bag contained partial remains of Tzarfati, whose body had been recovered by soldiers and reburied in Israel in December 2023. Hamas exhumed and reburied remains to stage the Red Cross visit. Media reports said Hamas removed a body from a tunnel shaft in Gaza’s Tufah area, reburied it, and then performed the “rediscovery” in front of cameras.
A casket containing the remains was handed over to Israel late Monday night. Israeli officials confirmed that the remains belonged to Tzarfati, 27, an electrical engineering student at Ariel University who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, while celebrating his birthday. He was declared dead weeks later, and his body was recovered by IDF troops in Gaza on December 1.
Tzarfati’s family viewed the footage before it was publicly released. In a statement, they called the act a “despicable” manipulation by Hamas.
“We went to sleep tonight expecting and hoping that another family would close a two-year torturous circle and have their loved one returned for burial,” the family said. “But once again, there was a deception at the expense of our family as we try to recover.”
“This is the third time that we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son. The circle supposedly closed in December 2023, but it never really closes. Since then, we have been living with the wound that keeps opening, between memory and longing, between bereavement and a sense of mission,” the family added.
Tzarfati’s partner, Shoval Gal, said she and other friends survived the massacre because of Ofir’s actions and encouragement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office condemned the incident, calling it “a clear violation of the agreement by the Hamas terrorist organization.”
The remains of 13 hostages are still in Gaza. Israeli officials say Hamas has access to most of the bodies but is deliberately delaying their return, in breach of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has not publicly commented on the footage. The Israel Defense Forces said it is investigating how Hamas exploited the Red Cross presence in the staged event.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.
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