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The video grab, estimated to have been filmed in November 2023, shows Bipin Joshi in Hamas captivity.Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters
Family of deceased Nepali hostage once shown in video had “faith and hope” he was alive
Bereaved relatives of Bipin Joshi – a deceased hostage who was shown alive in a Hamas video after he was taken on the October 7, 2023, attacks – have described today how they once clung onto “faith and hope” of his return.
Instead, the Nepali student became one of four deceased hostages to be released by the militant group on Monday – more than two years after he was taken from a farm in southern Israel.
He was seen alive in a video believed to be filmed later that year, in November.
“We clung to that video with faith and hope that we would once again see our beautiful boy smiling and coming home,” the family added in the statement.
“Bipin said goodbye to us with great excitement as he set out for a year-long educational experience in Israel. We never imagined that hug would be the last,” the family reflected. “Rest in peace, our beloved one. We love you.”
The militant group is expected to return the bodies of more deceased captives today, as we’ve been reporting.
Hamas must disarm “or we will disarm them,” Trump says
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with President of Argentina Javier Milei in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Returning now to remarks made by US President Donald Trump yesterday, as he warned Hamas they must disarm or “we will disarm them.”
Asked how he would do that, Trump said, “I don’t have explain that to you, but if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I’m not playing games.”
Trump said that could happen “quickly and perhaps violently.”
Pressed on a timeline for disarmament, Trump said it would be “a reasonable period of time. Pretty quickly,” but did not provide specifics.
Gaza hospital celebrates return of doctor detained by Israel for nearly two years
Nearly two years after being imprisoned by Israel forces and allegedly tortured in detention, Dr. Ahmed Mhanna returned to Gaza’s Al-Awda Hospital this week, where he was welcomed with hugs and celebrations.
“Today, after 665 days of imprisonment in Israeli occupation prisons, the Al-Awda Health and Community Association welcomed back its dedicated physician,” the hospital said in a statement on Tuesday.
Al-Awda Hospital first reported his detention in December 2023, saying at the time that he was detained alongside other medical personnel. He was among the more than 1,700 Palestinian detainees who were held in Israel without charges and returned to Gaza on Monday.
CNN has asked the Israel Prison Service why the doctor was detained, and for comment regarding the allegations of torture.
Human rights groups have repeatedly alleged abuse of Palestinian inmates at Israeli jails.
The Guardian newspaper previously reported testimony taken from a letter to Mhanna’s family dictated to his lawyer, in which the doctor described being kicked, interrogated and humiliated by Israeli authorities while in prison. Several international advocacy groups previously called for Mhanna’s release, as well as the release of other detained Palestinian doctors
Palestinian militant groups say they support Hamas’ campaign to pursue perceived collaborators
A group of Hamas-allied Palestinian militant groups has said it commends the campaign by the Hamas-run Ministry of Interior to “restore security” and pursue “agents” of Israel in Gaza.
The statement by the Palestinian Resistance Factions (PRF) was an apparent response to the violent clashes that have erupted between Hamas and rival groups in several areas across Gaza, including an incident that culminated in an apparent public execution.
“Its goal is to restore security and stability, and to pursue mercenary gangs, crime networks, and agents of the Zionist enemy.”
It comes as Hamas has been seen reasserting itself on the streets of Gaza following the ceasefire.
“Our message to all criminals and gangs fueled by the Zionist entity and its intelligence services is clear: there is no place for collaborators, killers, criminals, thieves, or bandits,” the PRF statement continued, urging families of those involved to immediately hand over the perceived collaborators.
A slow, complicated release of hostage remains is stoking tensions in a fragile ceasefire. Catch up her
We have just been able to report on the status of dead hostages being released from Gaza.
One of the four bodies handed over by Hamas last night does not belong to an Israeli captive, the Israeli military said, further complicating the slow release of hostage remains from Gaza.
According to an Israeli source, the remains appear to be those of a Palestinian from Gaza.
The three other bodies released by Hamas last night were identified as the hostages Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi.
Hamas is expected to return more bodies today, according to an Israeli source.
The remains of 21 hostages are still in Gaza, and the International Committee of the Red Cross said the returns could take weeks — highlighting the challenges of finding remains under the rubble.
Israel had previously assessed that Hamas may not be able to find all the remains, but the pace of returns is drawing fury.
Israeli sources have indicated that maps and intelligence exist pinpointing several deceased hostages, but efforts to enter those zones have been hampered by two years of Israeli bombardment that left swaths of the enclave in rubble – where an estimated 10,000 Palestinians are also believed to be buried.
The Israeli military is slated to work with an international task force, agreed on in the ceasefire plan, to retrieve the bodies of any hostages. But it’s unclear how that will work.
The slow release of remains has prompted Israeli authorities to pile pressure on Hamas by limiting the return of aid to Gaza. The United Nations said that Israel confirmed that only 300 aid trucks – half the agreed number – would be allowed into Gaza today, and there would be no fuel or gas shipments, except for specific humanitarian needs.
Israeli military says one of the bodies handed over by Hamas doesn’t belong to an Israeli hostage
A gunman wearing the uniform of the al-Qassam Brigades stands guard as Red Cross vehicles enter a warehouse to collect coffins containing the bodies of four deceased hostages in Gaza City, on Tuesday.Yousef Al Zanoun/AP
The Israeli military has now said that one of the four bodies handed over by Hamas overnight does not belong to an Israeli hostage, as we reported earlier.
“Following the completion of examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages.”
One of returned bodies not that of Israeli hostage, sources say
Vehicles transporting the bodies of four hostages handed over following a ceasefire arrive at the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday.Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
One of the four bodies handed over by Hamas to Israel overnight has not been identified as belonging to an Israeli hostage, two Israeli sources told CNN.
According to one of the sources, the remains appear to be those of a Palestinian from Gaza.
The second source said initial assessments suggest Hamas misidentified the body rather than intentionally sending the wrong one.
“We hope for the release of additional bodies later today,” the source said.
During a hostage deal in February 2025, Hamas handed over a body it claimed was that of Shiri Bibas, the 32-year-old Israeli mother abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz with her two young sons. Forensic tests later revealed the remains belonged to a Palestinian woman – not Bibas – a revelation Israel condemned as a grave violation of the terms of the agreement.
Hamas returned Shiri Bibas’s remains the following day.
Israel says it will reduce expected number of trucks into Gaza, UN spokesperson says
Trucks carry aid for Palestinians, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Khan Younis, Gaza on Tuesday.Ramadan Abed/Reuters
Israeli authorities have notified the United Nations that the number of humanitarian trucks expected to be allowed into Gaza will be reduced or delayed due to the limited number of dead hostages so far released by Hamas, a UN spokesperson said Tuesday.
Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, was asked by a reporter during a press briefing whether Israeli officials had informed the UN that the expected number of trucks would be delayed or reduced due to the number of hostages so far released.
In response, Cherevko said:
Reuters first reported Tuesday that, according to a note it saw, Israel told the UN it will only allow 300 aid trucks – half the agreed number – into Gaza from Wednesday and that no fuel or gas will be allowed into the enclave except for specific needs related to humanitarian infrastructure.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the figure and has reached out to Israeli authorities, including COGAT, the Israeli agency that controls the entry of aid into the enclave.
Under the agreement brokered by the US, Hamas and its allies were meant to release all of the remaining hostages, alive and dead, within 72 hours of the ceasefire being announced.
But only four of the 28 deceased hostages were returned to Israel after the 20 living hostages were released yesterday. And, as CNN reported last week, Israel has assessed that Hamas may not be able to find and return all the remaining dead hostages in Gaza.
Israel confirms identification of three of the four deceased hostages
Israel has now also confirmed the formal identification of three of the four deceased hostages whose bodies were returned to Israel late yesterday.
The government named Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi following the completion of identification by the National Center for Forensic Medicine.
The fourth deceased hostage returned late yesterday has not yet been identified.
A separate statement from the Israel Defense Forces said “the identification process at the forensic institute is still ongoing.”
Families release names of three deceased hostages returned to Israel yesterday
(From left) Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levi.Bring Them Home Now/Reuters
Levi was kidnapped while driving a friend to her home in kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023. His family was told two months later that the 53-year-old was killed, and his body taken to Gaza.
The bodies of eight deceased hostages have been returned to Israel since Monday. The remains of another 20 are yet to be released by Hamas.
Israel weighs options if Hamas does not return deceased hostages, officials say
Israeli protesters gather at the Hostage Square in Tel Aviv to call for the release of all the bodies of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza on Tuesday.Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images
Israel expects Hamas to return the bodies of more hostages today, an Israeli source told CNN, while weighing an array of options if Hamas continues to delay in the return of the bodies.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas was supposed to return all of the living and deceased hostages within the first 72 hours. Israel knew that not all of the deceased hostages would be returned by the deadline on Monday, but the slow pace has angered Israel’s leadership.
Hamas has released only seven of the remaining 28 deceased hostages.
According to Israeli officials, the security establishment has recommended the political leadership not to open the Rafah crossing and not to transfer full humanitarian aid to Gaza until more of the bodies held by Hamas are returned.
One source said Israel is also weighing redeploying IDF forces to some of the territories it withdrew from inside Gaza, but no decision has been made yet.
CNN previously reported that Israel and Hamas agreed to a mechanism to search for the remains of deceased hostages in Gaza, but no such mechanism has yet been created.
Pressure is piling on Hamas to release more dead hostages. Here’s the latest
Red Cross vehicles transport the bodies of deceased hostages in Gaza City on Tuesday.Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters
Welcome back to our coverage of events in the Middle East. Yesterday, we reported on the pressure piling on Hamas to speed up its release of dead hostages, as well as the progress in talks to end the war in Gaza.
Only eight of the 28 deceased hostages in Gaza have been released by Hamas, prolonging anguish for many families. Israel expects Hamas to return more deceased hostages today, an Israeli source told CNN.
US President Donald Trump called for Hamas to return all dead hostages, which was part of phase one of the deal, saying “the job is not done.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the returns could take weeks, highlighting the challenges of finding remains under the rubble.
The slow pace of hostage releases has prompted Israel to limit the resumption of aid to Gaza.
The United Nations said that Israel confirmed that only 300 aid trucks – half the agreed number – would be allowed into Gaza today, and there would be no fuel or gas shipments, except for specific humanitarian needs.
And, according to Israeli officials, the security establishment has recommended that the political leadership not open the Rafah crossing and not transfer full humanitarian aid to Gaza until more of the bodies are returned.
Also yet to be resolved are many of the thorniest issues – including whether Hamas will lay down its arms, and who will govern Gaza.
Trump said “phase two” of the Gaza ceasefire deal had begun, but did not divulge who is mediating and what is being discussed. Negotiations on the next stages of the ceasefire deal are ongoing in Egypt, an Israeli source and a regional diplomat told CNN.
Trump warned that Hamas must disarm or “we will disarm them.”
CNN
