Israel's military said Thursday that Palestinian militants handed over remains of two hostages, in the latest indication that the fragile ceasefire agreement is moving forward despite Israeli strikes on Gaza this week.
The two sets of remains were given to the Red Cross in Gaza and then transported into Israel under troop escort to be taken to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification, the Israeli military said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had facilitated the transfer of the remains as a "neutral intermediary."
Hamas militants have previously returned the remains of 15 hostages since the start of the ceasefire, with 13 more to be recovered under the ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Officials in southern Gaza said Thursday that at least 40 people had been injured in overnight strikes, after Israel declared the ceasefire was back on Wednesday morning.
Mohammad Saar, head of the nursing department at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, said it received 40 people wounded in overnight strikes on Khan Younis.
The Israeli army said it carried out strikes on "terrorist infrastructure that posed a threat to the troops" in Khan Younis. The area in southern Gaza is under the control of the Israeli military.
After strikes earlier this week, Israel said it was retaliating for the shooting and killing of one of its soldiers in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that Hamas had violated provisions in the deal concerning the handover of remains of hostages.
Hamas denied any involvement in the deadly shooting and, in turn, accused Israel of violating the ceasefire deal.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for military commanders in southern Israel Thursday, Netanyahu warned, "If Hamas continues to blatantly violate the ceasefire, it will experience powerful strikes, as it did the day before yesterday and yesterday."
He said Israel would "act as needed" to remove "immediate danger" to its forces.
"At the end of the day, Hamas will be disarmed and Gaza will be demilitarized. If foreign forces do this, all the better. And if they don't, we will do it."
The ceasefire, which began Oct. 10, is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.
