The Red Cross will hand over the bodies to Israeli soldiers stationed in the Gaza Strip, from where, after a short mourning ceremony, they will be transported to Israel for identification, the military added.
Hamas did not reveal the identity of the released bodies.
Hamas did not hand over all the bodies
Palestinian group by Monday it was to hand over the bodies of all 28 killed kidnappers, but that day she released the remains of four hostages.
On Tuesday evening, Hamas delivered another four coffins. After examining the bodies, Israeli authorities found that only three were those of the kidnapped.
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If it is confirmed that the remains handed over on Wednesday evening belonged to the hostages, The bodies of 19 kidnapped people will still remain in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigade, announced on Wednesday evening that it had fulfilled its obligations and released 20 hostages alive on Monday, and later released the bodies of all of the 28 dead “who were reached.”
It added that the transfer of additional bodies would require “great effort and specialized search equipment” and Hamas “is making every effort to solve this problem.”
Ceasefire in the Gaza Strip
The release of the bodies of the kidnapped people is part of the truce in force since Friday. As part of the agreement, Hamas released the last 20 living hostages on Friday, and Israel released nearly 2,000 detained Palestinians.
According to the agreement, Israel was to hand over the bodies of 15 dead Palestinians for each hostage. The Gaza Strip health ministry announced that another 45 corpses were transferred on Wednesday. In total, Israel has so far released the remains of 90 Palestinians.
Opening of the border point with Egypt
In response to delays on the part of Hamas, the Israeli authorities decided that the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt in Rafah, which has been closed for many months, will not be opened on Wednesday.
The border point is scheduled to open on Thursday, and the crossing will be supervised by a European Union mission, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
Hamas has previously warned that it is having difficulty locating and recovering the remains of all those killed kidnapped. Christian Cardon, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said on Tuesday that finding and returning the bodies of the hostages to Israel is a serious challenge that could take days or weeks. He added that some bodies may never be found.
The agreement on the first phase of the ceasefire stipulated that Hamas was to hand over all corpses in its possession by Monday. It was added that the group must also inform the working team consisting of representatives of mediators (USA, Qatar, Egypt, Türkiye) and the Red Cross about the known places where the remains were buried.
