Israel receives the bodies of two prisoners and identifies their identities.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced today, Wednesday, that Israel received the bodies of two Israeli prisoners from the Gaza Strip, Tamir Adar and Aryeh Zalmanovich, through the International Committee of the Red Cross, as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli army confirmed that it informed the families of the prisoners after identifying their bodies, and they were returned for burial inside Israel.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, had previously announced that they recovered the bodies of the prisoners from under the rubble and handed them over to the Red Cross yesterday evening, Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by the Israeli army early Wednesday, Adar was killed during the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation launched by Palestinian resistance on October 7, 2023, where he held the position of Deputy Security Coordinator and was a member of the rapid response team.

The statement added that his body was taken by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and his death was officially announced on January 4, 2024.

As for Zalmanovich, he was kidnapped alive from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, and the army stated that he died in captivity on November 17, 2023, with a heart attack being the likely cause of death, as shown in a video previously released by Hamas.

With the handover of the bodies of Adar and Zalmanovich, the total number of bodies handed over by the Al-Qassam Brigades since the ceasefire agreement began is 15 out of 28 Israeli prisoners who died in Gaza, while the search for the remaining bodies is still ongoing.

Israeli sources indicated that a third body was also handed over via the Red Cross, but authorities clarified that it does not belong to any Israeli soldier; rather, it is believed to belong to a Palestinian collaborator with the Israeli army from the occupied West Bank.

In contrast, a reporter stated that the International Committee of the Red Cross received a new batch of bodies of Palestinian martyrs from the Israeli side and transported them to the Gaza Strip.

A medical source at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis confirmed the arrival of the bodies of 15 martyrs as part of the sixth batch of bodies released by Israel under the ceasefire agreement.

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the number of bodies of Palestinian martyrs received since the announcement of the ceasefire has reached 165 so far.

These developments come as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, which was reached through U.S. mediation and includes the gradual exchange of bodies and prisoners.

Last week, Hamas released all remaining living prisoners in exchange for the release of more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.