Israel receives 3 bodies from Hamas: PM's office

JERUSALEM/GAZA -- Israel said on Sunday it had received the remains of three hostages from Hamas in Gaza, as part of the ongoing exchange of bodies under the ceasefire agreement.

The remains were handed over to Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip by the International Committee of the Red Cross and will be transferred to the national forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

"Once the identification process is completed, an official notification will be delivered to the families," the office said.

If confirmed, it would leave the bodies of eight hostages still in Gaza, out of 28 that Hamas was required to return to Israel under the truce, in exchange for the bodies of 360 Palestinian militants killed in the war.

Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, east of Khan Younis. They identified one of them as Colonel Asaf Hamami, an Israeli officer killed during the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault while defending Kibbutz Nirim.

In a separate statement, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the handover "comes as part of the movement's firm commitment to continuing the exchange process," calling on mediators to "pressure Israel to implement its obligations under the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip."

Despite the ceasefire that took effect more than three weeks ago, at least 236 Palestinians have been killed and 600 wounded by Israeli fire since Oct 11, according to Gaza health authorities. It said the total death toll from Israeli strikes since Oct 7, 2023, had reached 68,865.