ISTANBUL

The Palestinian group Hamas said Thursday it will hand over the remains of two Israeli hostages this evening under a ceasefire agreement.

The group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement on Telegram that the bodies will be transferred at 4 pm local time (1400GMT).

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN earlier reported that preparations were underway to receive the two bodies from Hamas in the coming hours.

The planned handover comes two days after Israel killed more than 100 Palestinians in deadly airstrikes across the Gaza Strip despite the ceasefire.

Tel Aviv claimed that the strikes came after a shooting attack killed a soldier in Rafah. Hamas has denied involvement in the attack and reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire deal.

Hamas has so far released 20 Israeli captives alive and transferred the remains of 17 out of 28 captives, most of them Israelis, under the first phase of the ceasefire deal. However, Tel Aviv claimed that one of the bodies did not belong to any of its captives.

The ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10 under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.

Phase one of the deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Israel has killed more than 68,500 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,600 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.