Name: Captive body returned by Hamas identified as Tanzanian student
Uploaded: 2025-11-07T00:55:06.876Z
Duration: 4 min 17 s
Description: The remains of the latest captive returned to Israel have been identified as those of a Tanzanian student.

The remains of the latest captive returned to Israel have been identified as those of a Tanzanian student.

Jerusalem

Israeli officials have identified the body of Joshua Lawitu-Molel, a Tanzanian student and agricultural intern, as the latest captive returned by Hamas. Lawitu-Molel was killed during the October 7, 2023 attack on an Israeli kibbutz. 

The exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel involves the return of 28 captives' bodies, with six still outstanding. For each captive returned, Israel hands over 15 Palestinian bodies. Identification of Palestinian bodies in Gaza is hindered by the lack of laboratory facilities and DNA testing, forcing families to rely on personal items for recognition.

Captive body returned by Hamas identified as Tanzanian student

Israel has identified the body of the latest captive handed over by Hamas. Authorities say it belongs to Tanzanian student Joshua Lawitu-Molel. He was working as an agricultural intern at a kibbutz which was attacked on October 7th, 2023. Hamas has agreed to hand over the bodies of 28 captives, meaning another six are yet to be returned. Hamas says it's been difficult to find the bodies because of the destruction and lack of heavy machinery. For every captive returned to Israel, Hamas will receive 15 bodies of Palestinians from Israel. In a moment, we'll talk to Hind Al-Khudri who's in Deir el-Balah, but let's begin by speaking to Noor Aude in Ramallah. Noor, the search continues for these bodies, but what are we hearing the latest from the Israelis as far as plans and preparations going forward? Well, Mohammed, Gaza is one of several fronts on which Israel is waging war. So, for now, Israel is not moving forward on any additional measures as far as the ceasefire is concerned. It will not make any progress on the delivery of aid, on withdrawing from areas in Gaza, until and unless the remaining six bodies are handed over. And it understands that that will take time, precisely because of what you said. The search is extremely complex and difficult because of the wide-scale destruction that Israel has caused. And there will be a cabinet meeting later on this evening in Israel to discuss all those war fronts and what happens next. The posture, as far as Israel is concerned, is still the same. It is deciding whether Hamas is complying or not. It is deciding whether Hezbollah is complying or not. It is monitoring all those fronts and taking aggressive measures as it sees fit. Nothing will change on the ground in Gaza, as far as the cabinet is concerned, until everything concludes as far as the bodies are related. There, Israel, of course, holds hundreds of bodies of Palestinians captive. Mohammed, only 15 will be handed over in exchange for Joshua's body, the Tanzanian citizen whose body was handed over on Wednesday. All right, that's Noor Audeh live for us in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Noor, thanks so much for bringing us up to speed. All right, Hind Al-Khudri is now in Deir el-Balah live for us in central Gaza. Hind, what's the identification process for those Palestinian bodies that will be handed over by Israel? Now, what we need to know is Gaza has been living through two years of a deadly, relentless war, and the hospitals ran out of everything. Even lab tests are not available across Gaza, and this is what's making it very hard for the Palestinians to identify who these bodies are. Now, there's a huge difference between the Israeli deceased bodies and the Palestinian deceased bodies, where, in Israel, they have all the labs they need, everything well-developed, but Palestinians' bodies are taking a long time for their family members to know who these are. We're talking about zero DNA tests or any labs working across the Gaza Strip. Imagine, Mohammad, out of 285 bodies, only 84 have been identified, and we have been seeing features of torture, of disfigurement, and this is all due to the extent of torture Palestinians have been going through before they have been killed by the Israeli forces. Also, according to doctors, there are a lot of Palestinians that were handcuffed, where their hands are handcuffed with ropes, till this point, so families were able to identify from the socks, for example, or from the T-shirt, or from what is left from those Palestinians. Now, all of this is going on as Palestinians are still facing and struggling to strive to find their basic necessities, their basic commodities.

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