Hamas claimed to have recovered the remains of deceased hostage Hadar Goldin in the southern Gaza City of Rafah, the terror group told Al Jazeera on Saturday.
Al Jazeera previously reported that the Red Cross was also collecting remains allegedly belonging to one of the five remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip. Saudi media site Al Hadath reported the Red Cross had entered the Jenin neighborhood in eastern Rafah.
Goldin was killed in Operation Protective Edge in 2014. His body has been held by the terror group since. IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir arrived at Goldin's family home amid the reports of his body's recovery, KAN reported.
The IDF's Southern Command told Walla that excavations by Hamas in the southern Gaza city saw seven bodies removed from the site, and that Goldin's body may have been one of them, adding that the report cannot be verified and that "the source of all the publications is Hamas alone."
"An entire country is waiting for Hadar to be returned to us," the Goldin family said in a statement. "The Chief of Staff arrived at the end of Shabbat to update us on the tremendous efforts to free the hostages, and we salute everyone involved in this national mission.
"We are waiting for news of official confirmation that Hadar has returned to Israel. We ask that you remain calm. Until it's confirmed, it's not over."
Following the Al Jazeera report, a security source confirmed to Maariv that hostage remains were being recovered by the terror group from the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line.
Currently, Israel is awaiting the return of Goldin, alongside deceased hostages Meny Godard, Ran Gvili, Dror Or, and Sudthisak Rinthalak.
Recent deceased hostages' bodies that were returned
Friday saw the return of the body of slain hostage Lior Rudaeff, the Prime Minister's Office announced the following day.
His remains were sent to the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir to confirm that it was Rudaeff. He was killed on October 7, and his body was taken into the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Rudaeff was a longtime resident of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhakm and was a member of the community's response team when he was murdered by the PIJ.
Amir Bohbot, Amichai Stein, Guy Elster, and Leo Feierberg Better contributed to this report.