The coffins with the remains were first handed over from Hamas to the Red Cross, which in turn handed them over to the Israeli military. The military will first conduct a ceremony and then the bodies will be taken to a forensic center in Israel for identification.
If the bodies are confirmed to belong to people from the hostages, it means that the remains of 16 people who were taken captive during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, are still missing.
Israel demands that all those who were taken hostage or killed be handed over to Israel as part of phase one of the peace agreement and has threatened to otherwise resume the fighting in Gaza.
