The Islamist group handed over the first bodies of Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, as part of the peace agreement signed with mediation by the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye. The bodies will be identified in Tel Aviv.

The Islamist group Hamas handed over this Monday to the International Red Cross in the south of the Gaza Strip the first four bodies of Israeli hostages who died during their captivity, as part of the agreement reached with Israel to end the war and facilitate the full return of the kidnapped.

According to the Israeli army, the bodies belong to Guy Illouz (26), Yossi Sharabi (53), Bipin Joshi (24) and Daniel Perez (22), four of the 28 hostages still held in Gaza. Hamas representatives handed them over to the Red Cross, which will arrange for their transfer to Israeli territory.

Israeli authorities said the remains will be transported to the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, where identification and forensic analysis will be carried out to determine the cause of death. The procedure could take up to 48 hours in the most complex cases.

In Gaza, a brief religious ceremony was held before the transfer, during which the coffins were draped in Israeli flags. The Israeli government confirmed that the Red Cross plans to continue the operation throughout the day to complete the delivery of the 28 bodies agreed upon in the agreement.

Before the confirmation, Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on his X account:

“The urgent task to which we are all now committed is to ensure the return home of all the deceased hostages. Hamas's announcement of the expected return of four bodies today is a breach of its commitments. Any intentional delay or omission will be considered a flagrant violation of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly.”

The handover takes place within the framework of the final stage of the peace agreement promoted by the United States, Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, which also allowed the release of the last living hostages, among them the three Argentines Eitan Horn, Ariel and David Cunio, after more than 700 days of captivity.

While identification work is being carried out in Tel Aviv, Israeli families await with anticipation and pain the confirmation of the victims' identities, in the midst of a diplomatic process that seeks to close more than two years of war and return stability to the region.