Hamas has announced it has returned all the deceased Israeli captives it was able to recover, as part of the ongoing ceasefire agreement with Israel.

The statement came as two more bodies were handed over to Israel late on Wednesday via the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In a statement, the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said it had fulfilled its commitments under the deal.

“The resistance has adhered to the agreement and handed over all the living captives it held, as well as the bodies it was able to access,” the group said.

It added that recovering the remaining bodies “requires significant effort and specialised equipment”.

“We are making great efforts to close this file,” the statement said.

The handover is part of a ceasefire agreement signed last week between Israel and Hamas, aimed at ending the war on Gaza and exchanging prisoners and remains. 

On Monday, Hamas released 20 living Israeli captives in exchange for just under 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The deal also stipulates that Hamas will return the bodies of 28 deceased Israeli captives in exchange for around 400 Palestinian bodies currently withheld by Israel.

The agreement does not specify a deadline for the return of the bodies, acknowledging the difficulty of locating and recovering them in current conditions.

Insiders say (and CNN reported on this on October 9, 2025) that all parties were well aware of the amount of rubble that would have to be removed to get to bodies. Strangely though, the only discussions are around Israel’s deceased, with no focus on the probable many, many thousands of Palestine bodies lying under the rubble as a result of the intense bombing from the Zionists.

Much of the challenge stems from Israel’s two-year genocidal war on Gaza, which has destroyed or damaged more than 83 percent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip, according to UN estimates. 

Many of the deceased are believed to be buried under rubble or in underground tunnels, and some may never be recovered.

As of Wednesday, Hamas had handed over nine Israeli bodies, while Israel had returned 90 Palestinian bodies to Gaza.

Nineteen Israeli bodies remain in Gaza and Israel continues to withhold the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians, with estimates ranging from 700 to more than 4,000. Some of the remains date back to 1967 or earlier.

US: Hamas not violating deal 

Israel has used the delay in the return of all Israeli bodies to justify punitive measures on the Gaza Strip and violations of the ceasefire agreement.

According to Israeli media reports, the government has decided not to reopen the Rafah crossing – a move that contradicts the ceasefire deal, which stipulated the crossing would reopen on Wednesday.

The Rafah crossing with Egypt is the only pedestrian and commercial gateway between Gaza and the outside world that was not previously under Israeli control. 

During its ground invasion of Rafah, Israel destroyed the crossing and sealed it off, preventing the evacuation of tens of thousands of critically wounded people and halting the entry of both humanitarian and commercial supplies.

The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday the crossing will open at a later stage, but it did not specify when. 

The US has denied accusations against Hamas that it was violating the ceasefire with the delay in returning bodies. 

A senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reports that Hamas honoured the deal by releasing all living captives as agreed. 

He added that there was an understanding that the return of the bodies would be a lengthy process and that “mechanisms are in place” to help locate and recover them.

Turkey has offered to send a team of 80 specialists with earthquake rescue experience to Gaza to assist in locating and retrieving the bodies. Egypt is also reportedly set to assist in the process.