'Israeli' military says received three unidentified bodies from Gaza via Red Cross

An 'Israeli' military source said Friday the army had received three unidentified bodies from the Gaza Strip via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), but it does not believe they belong to captives.

"We still don't know if the bodies being returned are hostages' bodies," the 'Israeli' military source told AFP, confirming earlier reports that Israeli authorities received three bodies from the Red Cross.

"From our intel we don't think they are hostages' bodies, and we transferred them to the forensic research laboratory", to confirm their identities, the source added.

Earlier Friday, the ICRC said in a statement that its teams "tonight facilitated the transfer of three deceased to Israeli authorities".

"This was done at the request of the parties, and with their agreement," it added.

Hamas has so far returned the remains of 17 of the 28 deceased captives that Hamas had agreed to hand over as part of a US-brokered truce deal with 'Israel', not including Friday's three bodies.

After the start of the ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, Hamas returned the 20 surviving captives still in its custody and began the process of returning the bodies of the dead captives.

The handover comes simultaneously to 'Israel’s' return on Friday of the bodies of 30 Palestinians to authorities in Gaza. That completed an exchange after Hamas fighters turned over the remains of two captives on Thursday, in a sign that the tense 'Israel'-Hamas ceasefire agreement is edging forward.

The incremental progress came despite 'Israeli' strikes on Gaza this week that killed more than 100 people following the alleged killing of an 'Israeli' soldier.

The handover brings the number of Palestinian bodies returned by Israel to 225, only 75 of which have been identified by families, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.