Israeli authorities have identified three of the four dead hostages returned by Hamas from Gaza on Tuesday.
The bodies of Tamir Nimrodi, 20, Eitan Levy, 53, and Uriel Baruch, 35, were part of the latest return, according to the Hostages Families Forum. Scientists are still working to identify the fourth body.
So far eight dead hostages’ bodies have been sent back from Gaza.
Hamas has yet to return a further 20 bodies as agreed under a ceasefire deal brokered by the US.
Israel has been frustrated by the slow return of bodies, and has threatened to further restrict humanitarian aid into Gaza until all the hostages’ remains were returned. Hamas says it has had difficulty locating the remains.
The bodies of four more hostages are expected to be transferred from Gaza later on Wednesday, according to Israeli media.
Hamas handed back all 20 living hostages on Monday.
The remains of 45 dead Palestinians who had been held in Israel were returned to Gaza on Tuesday, the Red Cross said in a statement.
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Ceasefire Comes Into Force In Gaza
US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan, which both Israel and Hamas accepted, envisaged that the handover of all 48 hostages would be completed by noon on Monday.
Palestinians are increasingly worried that a delay in Hamas returning the bodies could bring uncertainty to the future of the ceasefire.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IDF said: “Hamas is required to fulfil its part of the agreement and make the necessary efforts to return all the hostages to their families and to proper burial.”
Israel’s defence minister has warned the Palestinian armed group that “any delay or deliberate avoidance will be considered a gross violation of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly”.
Israeli officials said they had decided to restrict aid and delay plans to open the Rafah border crossing with Egypt because Hamas had violated the ceasefire deal by failing to turn over bodies of hostages.
A copy of the ceasefire agreement, published by Israeli media last week, appeared to acknowledge that Hamas and other Palestinian factions might not be able to locate all of the bodies within the original timeframe.
An Israeli official has suggested that an international task force will start work to locate the remains of anyone who was not returned.
“A big burden has been lifted, but the job is NOT DONE. THE DEAD HAVE NOT BEEN RETURNED, AS PROMISED! Phase two begins right NOW!!!” Trump said on X.
Many Palestinians are worried the delay in Hamas’ return of all bodies of Israeli hostages and the subsequent violence could risk the ceasefire and derail the start of the second phase of negotiations.
Almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released as part of the 20-point peace plan, touted by the US president as the end of the two-year war.
The first phase of Trump’s plan saw the ceasefire come into effect at 12:00 (09:00 GMT) on 10th October.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he remained hopeful for a peaceful next phase in the talks between Israel and Hamas.
But he said Trump’s conditions were “very clear” that Hamas must demilitarise or “all hell breaks loose”.
“First, Hamas has to give up its arms,” Netanyahu said. “And second, you want to make sure that there are no weapons factories inside Gaza. There’s no smuggling of weapons into Gaza. That’s demilitarisation.”
BBC/Hauwa M.