Hamas releases the bodies of 4 hostages to Israel

Hamas released the bodies of four dead hostages on Tuesday night, after Israeli authorities accused the group of returning them too slowly and said they would impose new limits on aid entering into Gaza in retaliation.

The spat over the dead hostages — 20 of whom have yet to be handed over — was the latest sign of the strains on the four-day-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, after Israeli soldiers killed several Palestinians in the coastal enclave earlier on Tuesday.

In a brief statement on X, the Israel Defense Forces said the bodies of four dead hostages had been passed to the Red Cross in Gaza. The IDF later said the bodies had reached Israel, and would now undergo identification procedures.

On Wednesday, the group representing the families of hostages named three of the four as Uriel Baruch, Tamir Nimrodi, and Eitan Levi.

The release of the bodies by Hamas came after Cogat, the Israeli body overseeing aid access to Gaza, told partners that due to the militant group’s delay in returning the mostly Israeli dead hostages it would limit aid deliveries to the shattered Palestinian enclave.

Under the terms of a peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump, Hamas was due to free all 20 remaining Israeli living hostages by noon on Monday — which it did — as well as return the bodies of 28 captives who had died, in exchange for the release of 1,900 Palestinians from Israeli jails.

Israeli officials had privately acknowledged that returning the dead hostages’ bodies could take longer, as some are thought to be buried under rubble. But when Hamas returned just four on Monday, families of the hostages reacted with fury and demanded retaliation from Israel.

In a message sent to aid groups on Tuesday and seen by the Financial Times, Cogat said it would allow only 300 aid trucks — half the number agreed under Trump’s peace plan — into the enclave on Wednesday. It added that no private sector deliveries would be allowed.

Israeli media reported that the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt would also remain closed.

Olga Cherevko, spokeswoman for the UN’s OCHA humanitarian arm, confirmed that it had received Cogat’s message and said the agency “continue[s] to encourage the parties to adhere to the agreement” brokered by Trump.

Cogat did not respond to requests for comment, and it was not immediately clear whether the release of the four additional bodies would have any impact on Israel’s limits on aid.

The spat was the latest sign of the strain on the fragile ceasefire that took effect on Friday, paving the way for Monday’s hostage and prisoner exchange, which formed the first phase of Trump’s plan to end what has become the deadliest war in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Earlier the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that six people were killed when Israeli drones fired on residents inspecting their homes in the Shuja’iyyah neighbourhood to the east of Gaza City.

The IDF said its troops had opened fire after “several” Palestinians approached the so-called yellow line, to which the Israeli army withdrew as part of Trump’s peace deal.

Overall, the war between Israel and Hamas has cost the lives of nearly 68,000 Palestinians and nearly 2,000 Israelis, reduced much of Gaza to rubble and caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave.

During a lightning visit to the region on Monday that coincided with the hostage and prisoner exchange, Trump hailed what he said was the “historic dawn of a new Middle East”, despite scepticism among diplomats over whether the second part of his plan — which requires Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from Gaza — would happen.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump remained bullish about his plan, insisting that Hamas would give up its weapons.

“They’re going to disarm, and if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I’m not playing games,” he said.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it had identified the four bodies handed over by Hamas on Monday.

It named them as Israeli hostages Guy Illuz, Daniel Peretz and Yossi Sharabi and Nepali captive Bipin Joshi.

Additional reporting by Steff Chavez in Washington