Israel announced that it had received the remains of three Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip via the Red Cross.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying that"Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffins of three of the kidnapped men who were killed, and they have been handed over to the Israeli army and the Shin Bet security service inside the Gaza Strip, and from there they will be transferred to Israel where they will be received in a military ceremony."

The statement added: "The coffins will then be transferred to the National Center for Forensic Medicine of the Ministry of Health, and after the identification process is completed, an official announcement will be made to their families."

For its part, the Israeli army stated in a statement that"the Israeli army is scheduled to examine the coffins before covering them with Israeli flags and holding a short ceremony led by a military rabbi, after which the remains will be transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification."