Israel Receives Three More Gaza Hostage Bodies Under US-Brokered Ceasefire Agreement

The Gaza truce, brokered by US President Donald Trump, has been in effect since October 10.

On Sunday, Israel confirmed receipt of three additional hostage remains from Hamas as part of the ongoing exchange facilitated under the US-brokered ceasefire agreement for Gaza.

The fragile peace arrangement has largely held in Gaza since October 10, despite occasional tensions, under an agreement focused on returning all Israeli hostages, both alive and deceased.

According to a statement from the prime minister's office, "Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffins of three fallen hostages that were handed over to IDF and Shin Bet forces inside the Gaza Strip."

An Israeli health ministry representative later confirmed that the bodies had been transferred to a national forensic center "for identification and investigation into the circumstances and cause of death."

Forensic experts would subsequently meet with the deceased's families "to discuss and elaborate on the findings," the spokesperson added.

Hamas's military wing reported discovering the remains earlier Sunday "along the route of one of the tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip."

At the time of the ceasefire announcement, Hamas was holding 48 hostages in Gaza, with 20 confirmed alive.

Since the truce began, Hamas has released the surviving hostages and started returning the remains of 28 deceased captives.

Of these deceased, 17 have been returned so far—including 15 Israelis, one Thai national, and one Nepali.

Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the return of bodies, while the Palestinian group maintains that recovery is slow because many remains are buried under Gaza's rubble.

Hamas has repeatedly requested mediators and the Red Cross to provide necessary equipment and personnel to recover the bodies.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem stated that Sunday's handover demonstrated the group "was making every effort to return the bodies as quickly as possible."

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an Israeli campaign group representing hostage families, urged the government to act decisively to ensure all the deceased are returned home.

"The Hostage Families demand that the prime minister act with determination and firmness in order to bring about the immediate realization of Hamas's commitments under the agreement and to return all of the deceased hostages to Israel's hands," the group stated.

Beyond returning the bodies of 17 hostages, Hamas has also handed over partial remains of a hostage whose body was previously recovered by the Israeli army last year.

This incident provoked outrage in Israel, which accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement by returning only partial remains instead of a complete body of another hostage.

"We call for the return of all 11 deceased hostages who have still not been returned to Israeli soil," said Inbal Bachar, aunt of Sahar Baruch, whose remains were handed over earlier this week, during Baruch's funeral on Sunday.

"We cannot continue our lives until they all return," she added, according to a statement from the forum.

In Gaza, Palestinians hope that an Israeli military withdrawal will follow the truce and bring an end to their suffering.

"We want the second phase of the agreement to begin so that we can return to our homes," said Naif al-Sulaibi, a resident of Jabalia in northern Gaza.

"As long as the Yellow Line and the army remain here, life is impossible and conditions will stay unbearable," he added, referring to the de facto boundary marking Israeli military positions inside Gaza.

The implementation of the second phase of US President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan remains to be agreed upon, particularly regarding disarming Hamas, establishing a transitional authority, and deploying an international stabilization force in Gaza.