Israel said its forces received two hostage bodies from the Red Cross on Wednesday, which had been returned under a US-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza.
"Israel has received, through the Red Cross, two coffins containing the bodies of hostages who were handed over to the [Israeli military] and Shin Bet (security agency) forces inside the Gaza Strip," a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
Shortly afterwards, the military said the coffins had crossed over into Israeli territory, where they would be identified.
Since Monday, under a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas has handed back 20 surviving hostages to Israel in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.
Before the two bodies were handed over late on Wednesday, Hamas had already returned the remains of seven of 28 known deceased hostages, along with an eighth body, which Israel said was not that of a former hostage.
But late on Wednesday, the Palestinian Islamist movement's armed wing said it had transferred all the bodies it could find and would need specialist recovery equipment to retrieve the rest from Gaza's ruins.
"The Resistance has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement by handing over all living Israeli prisoners in its custody, as well as the corpses it could access," the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on social media.
"As for the remaining corpses, it requires extensive efforts and special equipment for their retrieval and extraction. We are exerting great effort in order to close this file," it added.
The announcement came as the Israeli military said "two coffins of deceased hostages" had been transferred into the custody of the Red Cross and were on their way to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.
"Hamas is required to uphold the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all the hostages," a joint statement from the Israeli military and security agency said.
There is now domestic pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tie aid to the fate of the bodies.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has threatened to cut off aid supplies to Gaza if Hamas fails to return the remains of soldiers still held in the territory.
AFP
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