ALL three bodies returned by Hamas overnight have been identified as IDF soldiers killed by their terrorist captors.
Colonel Asaf Hamami, 40, Captain Omer Neutra, 21, and Staff Sergeant Oz Daniel, 19, are all now back in Israel where their families can say their final goodbyes.
Hamami was the commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade when he was killed while battling with Hamas thugs on October 7.
He was believed to have been murdered at the Gaza border community of Kibbutz Nirim before his body was abducted and taken to Gaza.
He is survived by his wife and their three young children.
Teen Daniel was also killed while battling the twisted terrorists as part of the 7th Armored Brigades’ 77th Battalion near Nirim.
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He is survived by his parents and twin sister.
The final man returned home is Neutra, a lone soldier from the US.
He was a platoon commander in the same battalion Daniel and is believed to have been killed on the same day.
Brave Neutra is survived by his parents and four younger siblings.
The IDF confirmed the tragic return of three of their own men after they were all identified late on Sunday night.
A statement read: “Following the completion of the identification process representatives of the IDF informed the families of the hostages killed in action that their loved ones have been repatriated to Israel and identified.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office added in a statement: “The Government of Israel shares in the profound grief of the Hamami, Neutra, and Daniel families, and of all the families of the fallen hostages.”
Hamas reportedly claimed the remains had been found in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza.
There still remains eight deceased hostages in Gaza.
The release of the hostage bodies has been at the centre of a constant string of disputes between Israel and Hamas in the past two years of war.
Hamas says it has found all the hostages possible to locate by themselves.
They have claimed they are struggling to locate any other bodies among the wreckage and ruin of the Gaza strip, where around 80 percent of buildings are estimated to have been destroyed.
Egypt and the Red Cross have now been called in to use diggers to help search the rubble.
It comes amid controversy after chilling footage captured Hamas brutes appearing to try and rebury a hostage’s body before pretending to discover the corpse last week.
Israeli drones recorded the shocking footage from Gaza which shows what is believed to be a body bag being placed in a large hole in the ground and covered with soil.
A short time later, the terrorists acted out a “discovery” of the body.
Israel also claimed that the remains belonged to Ofir Tzarfati, 27 – an Israeli whose body was already returned in 2023.
The IDF responded by pounding Gaza with a wave of airstrikes.
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At least 31 people died across the strikes as Tel Aviv vowed Hamas would “pay” for breaking the fragile ceasefire and sending back the wrong hostage remains.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the retaliation late on Tuesday as he accused Hamas of “deception and treachery”.