The bodies of two more Israeli hostages have been handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas – but uncertainty still hangs over the fate of the missing remains of others.

Under the ceasefire agreement, all remaining 48 hostages, dead and alive, were supposed to be returned by this Monday.

So far, only the 20 living hostages have been returned, as well as seven dead hostages, according to Israel’s count, with two further bodies still being verified.

Just hours after today’s handover, the Israeli military said a tenth body previously turned over was not that of a hostage – and the confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.

What has Hamas said?

Hamas has previously said recovering the remaining bodies could take time, as not all burial sites are known.

Its armed wing put out a statement on Wednesday, saying it has returned all the bodies it could reasonably recover, but would require special equipment to hand over the remaining ones.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

That brings to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains claimed they showed signs of mistreatment.

Trump issues warning

The return of all the hostages is a key pillar of the deal agreed to by Israel and Hamas, heralded by US President Donald Trump as having brought “peace in the Middle East”.

Israel – which has freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the peace deal – had already threatened to keep the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed on Wednesday, and limit aid entering Gaza, due to Hamas not returning all of the dead.

And in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Mr Trump warned that Israel could resume the war if he feels Hamas is not upholding its end of the agreement.

“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,” he said.

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Since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023 – in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage – the two sides have been at war.

Nearly 68,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s subsequent offensive, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza.

The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts – though the ministry does not say how many of those killed are combatants.

Similar incident in previous ceasefire

This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to Israel.

During a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, but testing in February 2025 showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Ms Bibas’ body was returned a day later.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem accused Israel of violating the deal with shootings on Tuesday in eastern Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah.

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Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military is operating along the deployment lines troops withdrew to under the deal, and he warned that anyone approaching the lines will be targeted, as happened on Tuesday with several militants.

Aid trickling in

The World Food Programme said its trucks began arriving in Gaza after the entrance of humanitarian aid was paused for two days due to the exchange on Monday and a Jewish holiday on Tuesday.

The timing of the scaled-up deliveries – which are also part of the ceasefire deal – had been called into question after Israel said on Tuesday that it would cut the number of trucks allowed into Gaza, saying Hamas was too slow to return the hostages’ bodies.

Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, lauded the trucks’ passage but said the situation remained unpredictable.

“We’re hopeful that access will improve in the coming days,” she said.

The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medical supplies were bound for Gaza on Wednesday.

Fifteen UK charities have launched a fresh appeal for donations to Gaza to address “catastrophic levels of need” in the devastated region.

The charities make up the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which has been raising millions for Gaza – where tens of thousands have been killed over the past two years of war – and the wider Middle East.

After the initial stage of a much-sought ceasefire deal aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza was agreed on by Israel and Hamas, aid has begun to trickle into the devastated region again.

According to the DEC, its charities and local partners have been scaling up their work in the Gaza Strip since the agreement took effect last week.

It said lorries carrying food and other aid began to enter Gaza on Sunday, with the British Red Cross and Plan International UK among those confirming supplies had made it in.

After raising more than £50m since the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal was launched last October, the DEC is renewing calls for donations, saying £10 could provide blankets for two people, while £50 could provide emergency food for five families for one week.

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As goods are returning to Gaza’s markets, the DEC said, they are increasing cash assistance to help people buy essentials as they become more affordable.

They’re also distributing clean water, medicine, food, and nutrition support.

On its website, the DEC pointed to how famine was declared in Gaza City in August as it appealed for funds saying: “Your support can save lives.”

You can donate to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal at dec.org.uk.

When we meet Vicki, she is clinging to an Israeli flag, her eyes moist with half-formed tears.

Across the road, a podium is being prepared. Before long, a rabbi will deliver an address in memory of Guy Illouz, a man Vicki never met but who she now comes to mourn.

“We are family in this country,” she says. “I know him, but he doesn’t know me. We are all responsible for each other, so that’s why I am here today. This is my duty.”

She has attended previous such occasions, including the funerals of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the small children whose bodies were returned from Gaza in February.

She was once sure that Israel could live in peace with Gaza, but that certainty has been shaken by images of October 7 that rest in her mind.

‘Barbaric, inhuman’

Everyone in the world, she tells me, should watch the films that collate images and video footage of the attacks.

“We didn’t do that. They did that, and they were horrible. They were very barbaric, inhuman. I didn’t believe there could be such people.

“I thought we could make peace, but they acted like savages.”

Those who knew him best paint a picture of Guy as an understated man who loved music, his family and his friends.

On October 7, he was shot in his car as he tried to flee.

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His oldest friend, Alon Werber, died alongside him; Guy was taken to Gaza, but died as a result of his injuries.

A small, unassuming panel van drives up. The rear doors are opened and there, lying in the back, is the coffin, an Israeli flag tightly wrapped around it.

It is such an incongruous sight. A plywood box is in place next to the coffin, presumably in order to stop it moving around.

The van itself is painted blue, and looks nothing like a hearse. Yet this is a body, a coffin, and a person that has been the focus of so much attention.

It moves off slowly, the doors still open. A crowd walks along behind, some crying, many waving Israeli flags.

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Among them is Carnit Koriat. I ask her to describe her emotions.

“It is indescribable,” she says. “You cannot believe those last two years, when sometimes we didn’t want to live. Yes, I am happy to see the live hostages back but we cannot forget the ones who were left behind.

“The least we can do – the minimum we can say – is that we are sorry that we couldn’t bring them back here alive.”