HAMAS has handed over what it claims are the remains of three more newly-discovered hostage bodies back to Israel.
The Red Cross collected three caskets holding the bodies and then delivered them to the IDF inside Gaza, Israel confirmed.
They will now undergo identification to ensure they belong to hostages who were taken on October 7.
Hamas reported the remains had been found in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza.
The release of hostage bodies has been at the centre of a constant string of disputes between the two sides, with Israel frustrated at the drawn-out process and punishing Hamas with airstrikes in Gaza.
It’s thought the remains of 28 people were still inside Gaza when the ceasefire was signed, and the terms stated these should be handed over to Israel.
But Hamas has said it is struggling to locate all the bodies among the wreckage and ruin of the Gaza strip, where around 80 percent of buildings are estimated to have been destroyed.
Egypt and the Red Cross have been using diggers to help search the rubble.
Before today, the remains of seventeen hostages had been handed over – with 11 left in the strip.
These included nine Israelis, one Thai and one Tanzanian.
If the bodies received this evening are confirmed as legitimate, it will leave just eight hostage remains left in Gaza.
On Friday, Israel said it had received the bodies of two other dead hostages, and identified them as Amiram Cooper, 84, and Sahar Baruch, 25.
Then on Saturday, Hamas handed over the remains of three more people in exchange for the bodies of 30 Palestinians – but Israel said none of them belonged to dead hostages.
Hamas said it had offered to hand over samples on Friday of unidentified bodies, but Israel refused and asked to receive the remains for examination.
A Hamas statement said: “We handed the bodies over to stop the claims of Israel.”
The most heated controversy came on Tuesday when Israel accused Hamas of sending remains of a body which had already been recovered.
Benjamin Netanyahu ordered major airstrikes across Gaza City and Khan Younis, killing over 100 people in the most serious lapse of the ceasefire thus far.
He accused Hamas of “deception and treachery”, claiming they had faked the discovery of the hostage remains.
Families and supporters rallied once again on Saturday night to call for the return of all hostages.
Yael Adar, mother of the late Tamir Adar, told a rally in Tel Aviv that “the Hamas scum are mocking us”.
But others perceive things differently.
Moran Harari, friend of the late Carmel Gat, urged Israel to have restraint during another rally in Jerusalem.
She said: “This cursed war has taken so many lives of dear people on both sides of the fence. This time, we must not fall into it again.”
Netanyahu said on Sunday there are still pockets of Hamas in parts of Gaza controlled by Israeli forces – but insisted they would be eliminated.
