The family of Ofir Tzarfati on Tuesday decried Hamas’s “manipulation,” after footage showed the terror group faking the unearthing of the partial remains of the slain hostage. The “uncovered” remains were returned in a casket to Israel on Monday night, instead of the promised return of a body of one of the 13 deceased hostages still held in Gaza.

In a press conference at the family home in Kiryat Ata, Tzarfati’s mother, Rachel, said she felt the return of more remains was “continuous emotional abuse” by the terror group.

“It’s a punch in the gut, an arrow to the heart, a wound that is reopened again and again,” she said.

Tzarfati, 27, was shot, wounded and kidnapped by Gazan terrorists as he tried to escape from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, along with a number of others, including hostage Romi Gonen, who was eventually released. On November 27, the IDF declared that he was confirmed dead, and on December 1, the military announced it had recovered his body from Gaza.

On Monday, Hamas brought the partial remains of Tzarfati out of a building and placed them in a hole it had dug in the ground in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. It then covered the body bag in dirt and pretended to uncover it for the first time in front of the Red Cross.

The entire incident was filmed by a military drone. The full footage was published by the Israel Defense Forces later on Tuesday, after Tzarfati’s family was notified by military representatives that additional remains of his body were returned by Hamas.

“We thought we had come full circle, that we were able to lay Ofir to rest. But today we discovered that we never received all of him,” Rachel Tzarfati said. “It’s incomprehensible to me: How can you bury your child in installments?”

“Each time we open the grave, my heart opens and another little part of me is buried. And what turns the pain into something unbearable is the way Hamas chooses to play with the bodies of our boys. With our pain. With videos, manipulations and vile shows,” she said.

“Hamas is torpedoing the deal on purpose, is lying to the world with fake shows of searching and locating,” Tzarfati added, referring to the ceasefire-hostage release deal.

Amid the horror, “there is also one moment of light,” which is the return of her son’s remains, she said. “I choose to remember Ofir not through the horrors, but through his life.”

“He was all light… Young, handsome, full of the joy of life, love and laughter. A man who knew how to inspire everyone he met, who knew how to love without limits, who knew how to live honestly,” she said.

Shoval Tzarfati, Ofir’s sister, also slammed Hamas’s “manipulation” during the press conference.

“I stand here with a crown on my head, grateful for the privilege of having such a good brother. Ofir is a hero of love and light. A young man who dreamed, loved and lived powerfully. A graduate of the Navy, an electrical engineer, a surfer, a traveler and a beloved tennis instructor who was murdered in Hamas captivity. But his bright light continues to shine in the hearts of all of us,” she said.

Shoval urged the public to remember that 43 families of deceased hostages would not be able to embrace their loved ones, and that 13 bodies remained in Gaza.

Earlier this month, 20 living hostages were released after 738 days in captivity, as part of phase one of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.

In a statement earlier on Tuesday, the family said it was shown the video of Hamas faking the unearthing of the body, before it was seen by the public.

“We went to sleep tonight expecting and hoping that another family would get closure after two torturous years and have their loved one returned for burial,” the family said. “But once again, there was a deception at the expense of our family as we try to recover.”

The Tzarfati family called the footage a “despicable manipulation designed to torpedo the deal and abandon the return of all the hostages.”

“This is the third time that we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son. We supposedly had closure in December 2023, but it never really closes. Since then, we have been living with the wound that keeps opening, between memory and longing, between bereavement and a sense of mission,” they continued.

“Our Ofir went to Nova to celebrate his birthday and never returned. We ask all the people of Israel not to forget the fallen, not to forget the hostages, and to continue supporting the families until they return — that’s the only way we’ll have a future. That’s the only way we can continue to live in our country,” the family added.

Ronen Neutra, the father of slain American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra, said of the ongoing uncertainty about his son’s remains: “It’s nerve-wracking, ongoing terror, for more than two years. Everyone is in this awful feeling of ‘how much longer?’ And how will it end?

“The uncertainty is always with us. This evening we will be in Hostages Square, for an evening of singing for their return, in honor of Omer and the rest of the hostages. We invite all of the nation of Israel to join us,” he said, in comments quoted by the Ynet news site.

“The story isn’t over, and we can’t be left like they left the family of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul,” he said, referring to soldiers killed in Gaza in 2014. Shaul’s body was recovered by the military in January; Goldin’s body remains in the Strip.

“We need everyone with us. As people who are in close contact with the American administration, we know how much big events influence the administration and Trump himself,” he said.