Four coffins of deceased hostages are currently being escorted by IDF and ISA forces on their way to Israel according to a post by the Israeli Military on X.
Once they arrive in Israel, they will be transferred to the National Center of Forensic Medicine for identification procedures.
The IDF urged the public to act with sensitivity and wait for official identification of the remains. It also said it would first share that information with the families of the decesed hostages.
In addition to that, it laid out plans to honour the dead before they cross into Israel.
"Before crossing into Israeli territory, a military protocol will be held in Gaza in their memory.
During the protocol, IDF soldiers will drape the hostages’ coffins with Israeli flags, salute them, and recite a chapter from the Book of Psalms." it said.
Hamas released the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages on 13 October under a ceasefire deal, a major step towards ending two years of shattering war in Gaza as U.S. President Donald Trump, who helped broker the truce, proclaimed "a new beginning".
The Israeli military said it had received all hostages confirmed to be alive after their transfer from Gaza by the Red Cross, prompting cheering, hugging and weeping among thousands waiting at "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv.
Buses carrying released Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons as part of the accord also arrived in Gaza, an official involved in the operation told Reuters.
"This is a great day. This is a new beginning," Trump said after arriving to a hero's welcome in Israel where he was addressing the Knesset before flying on to Egypt for a summit aimed at building conditions for a lasting peace in Gaza.
Asked if the two-year Gaza war was over, he said: "Yes."
Initial photographs of six of the freed Israeli hostages distributed by the Israeli military showed them standing, some smiling and talking with soldiers who were receiving them.
"I am so excited. I am full of happiness. It's hard to imagine how I feel this moment. I didn't sleep all night," said Viki Cohen, mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen, as she travelled to Reim, an Israeli military camp where the hostages were being transferred.
In Gaza, about a dozen masked and black-clad gunmen, apparently members of Hamas' armed wing, arrived at Nasser Hospital where a stage and chairs had been laid out to welcome returning Palestinian prisoners.
"I hope that these images can be the end to this war. We lost friends and relatives, we lost our houses and our city," said Emad Abu Joudat, 57, a Palestinian father.
The release of hostages and a concurrent freeing of Palestinian detainees form a critical aspect of the first phase of the ceasefire accord concluded last week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where Monday's summit will take place.
However, much could still go wrong with further steps on which previous truce efforts faltered yet to be agreed. Those include how the tiny, densely populated coastal territory will be governed once fighting ends, and the ultimate fate of Hamas.
Hamas killed 32 members of what it called a "gang" in Gaza City during a security campaign launched after the ceasefire, a Palestinian security source said on Monday.
As he entered the Israeli Knesset (parliament), Trump said Palestinian militant group Hamas would comply with a provision under his plan for it to disarm.
The Netherlands has returned a 3,500-year-old Egyptian sculpture to Egypt, after an investigation confirmed the artefact had been looted and unlawfull...
Uzbekistan is preparing to introduce Islamic banking after the Senate approved legislation creating a legal framework for Sharia-compliant financial s...
Russia launched a large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy system early on Saturday (7 January), hitting power generation and distribution f...
Agreements signed by the United States, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Washington on 5 February show that the United States is changing how it secures a...
U.S. President Donald Trump has condemned but refused to apologise for a racist video briefly posted to his Truth Social account, insisting he had “...
A second group of Palestinians receiving medical treatment arrived in Egypt from Gaza via the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday (3 February).
Israel reopened the Rafah crossing on Monday (2 February) to a trickle of Palestinians for the first time in months, a major step in a U.S.-backed plan to end the war, though strict Israeli security checks slowed the process.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 30th of January, covering the latest developments you need to know.
A clock in a Tel Aviv square that became a rallying point for Israelis demanding the release of hostages taken during the October 2023 Hamas attack was turned off on Tuesday, 844 days after it began counting their captivity.
Winter weather has brought air travel in the German capital to a complete halt, stranding thousands of passengers as severe icing conditions make runways and aircraft unsafe for operation and force authorities to shut down one of Europe’s key transport hubs.
Storm Leonardo hit Spain and Portugal on Tuesday, forcing more than 11,000 people from their homes, as a man in Portugal died after his car was swept away by floodwaters and a second body was found in Malaga.
An attacker opened fire at the gates of a Shiite Muslim mosque in Islamabad on Friday before detonating a suicide bomb that killed at least 31 people in the deadliest assault of its kind in the capital in more than a decade.
Ukraine and Russia carried out a rare exchange of 314 prisoners on Thursday as U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi closed with a pledge to resume negotiations soon, offering one of the clearest signs of diplomatic movement in months.
The United States and Iran are set to hold nuclear talks in Oman on Friday after Tehran requested a change of venue and a strictly bilateral, nuclear-focused format, a move that is fuelling questions about Iran’s negotiating strategy.
Agreements signed by the United States, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Washington on 5 February show that the United States is changing how it secures access to strategic raw materials.
Azerbaijan has summoned Russia’s ambassador in Baku and issued a formal protest note over remarks by Russian lawmaker Konstantin Zatulin, escalating diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
France’s “absolute priority” remains the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Thursday (5 February) during talks with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus, as Paris reassesses its counter-terrorism strategy.
Georgia and the United States have held a rare high-level meeting in Washington, reopening cautious discussion about relations after years of political stagnation.
Using art as a quiet alarm, a new exhibition in Baku is drawing attention to endangered wildlife and the need for environmental responsibility.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment