The grotesque return of a body part falsely presented as one of Israel’s remaining hostages marks a new low in Hamas’s campaign of calculated cruelty. Israeli authorities confirmed today that the casket transferred by Hamas did not contain the remains of any of the 13 captives whose remains are still known to be in Gaza. The part belonged instead to Ofir Tzarfati, a 27-year-old abducted from the Nova music festival and buried in Israel last December. Ofir’s body had already been recovered and laid to rest in Kiryat Ata. His headstone, chosen by his grieving family, bore a line that now seems almost unbearably tragic: ‘You were a world and a fullness of love for life and humanity.’

Hamas knew full well that the returned remains were not one of the thirteen

Hamas, fully aware of these facts, sent the fragment anyway. They did so as if to feign compliance with an agreement they never intended to honour. It was a deliberate act of deception – grotesque in its symbolism, obscene in its intent.

The strategic use of mutilated corpses, faked returns, and psychological torment is codified Hamas doctrine. A handwritten operational directive recovered by IDF forces in Gaza, written by Yahya Sinwar himself in August 2022, lays bare the terrorist group’s plans with chilling clarity. The six-page document, analysed by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information........

© The Spectator