Hamas returned the remains of four more hostages to Israeli authorities and Israel returned the remains of 45 Palestinians to Gaza on Tuesday, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, as President Donald Trump warned the militant group that it must disarm.
"These operations were carried out in line with the ceasefire agreement, and it is crucial that the parties and mediators ensure the agreement is faithfully upheld," the ICRC said in a statement. "The ICRC remains committed to fulfilling its role as a neutral intermediary so that families can have closure."
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on X that it received the remains of the four hostages and said they would be transferred to the National Institute for Forensic Medicine for identification.
The remains were released after Hamas faced widespread criticism and accusations it violated Trump’s peace deal for returning the remains of only four hostages Monday. The terms of the peace agreement stipulated that it should release the remains of all 28 deceased hostages.
“I want them back. That’s what they said. I want them back,” Trump said at a media gathering Monday. “Also, they said they were going to disarm."
“If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them,” Trump told reporters who asked how he would do that. “I don’t have to explain that to you, but if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I’m not playing games.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the hostages' families would be notified after the identification process.
"All the hostage families have been informed, and in this difficult hour, our hearts are with them," it said.
Netanyahu’s office identified the four deceased hostages who were received Monday as Guy Ilouz, Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi and Bipin Joshi. Along with the four sets of remains released Tuesday, 20 deceased hostages are still in the custody of Hamas.
Families across Israel, the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank rejoiced as 20 hostages and 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were freed Monday.
The issue of returning the remains of the hostages has become a potential flash point and could threaten the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a warning to Hamas on Monday. “The urgent mission to which we are all committed now is to ensure the return of all the abducted bodies home,” Katz said on X. He added, “Any delay or deliberate avoidance will be considered a gross violation of the agreement and will be responded to accordingly.”
For the families of the hostages who returned home alive, it is now time to begin the healing process. Guy Gilboa-Dalal was kidnapped from the Nova music festival and was one of the hostages who reunited with his family Monday. His father, Ilhan, and brother Gal told "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Llamas in an interview in Tel Aviv that they were elated to have him home but were also preparing for a long road ahead.
“It was the first time that I could actually hug my son after two years, two horrible years, he was in captivity, in very hard conditions, and we were very afraid for his life most of the time,” Ilhan said.
He added: “We hugged him and we told him that he’s now came to his safe place, and from now on, everything will be all right, because we’re going to take care of him. So it was very joyful moment.”
Gal said the family will give his brother the support he needs to recover. “We know we have a long way ahead of us. Guy has a painful journey to go of healing, and this healing process is going to take time,” he said. “But as we said for this all two years that we know that this healing process will take time, at least we’re going to do it together.”
