Under the ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hama was to release all living hostages and return the remains of dead hostages within 72 hours of the ceasefire taking effect on Friday.

Hamas released all 20 live hostages, but by Tuesday evening had only returned eight of the 28 dead hostages. The group returned the remains of four hostages on Monday, and they have already been identified, and returned the remains of four more on Tuesday evening.

The group attributes the delay to the difficulty of finding bodies among the rubble after two years of war in the Gaza Strip.

"Following the completion of the examination at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the fourth body handed over to Israel by Hamas does not match any of the hostages," the army announced today.