The Israeli military announced tonight that the Red Cross has taken possession of four more coffins containing the bodies of killed hostages in Gaza, reports the BBC.
"The Red Cross is now en route to Israeli military forces in Gaza," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
The Israeli military announced earlier today that the Red Cross was on its way to northern Gaza to collect the bodies of more deceased hostages.
"Several coffins containing the remains of the hostages" will be handed over at an agreed location, an earlier IDF statement said.
The statement also called on Hamas to respect the agreement and "make the necessary efforts" to return the bodies of all the dead hostages, the BBC reports.
United States President Donald Trump called on the Palestinian Hamas movement earlier today to return the bodies of dead hostages from Gaza, a step he considers necessary to move to the next phase of his plan for the Palestinian territory.
According to the ceasefire agreement, 20 live hostages were returned yesterday, but of the 28 dead, four bodies were returned yesterday.
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"All 20 hostages have been returned and are doing as well as can be expected. A great burden has been lifted, but the job is not done. The dead have not been handed over as promised," the US president wrote on his Twitter account, a day after his visit to Israel and Egypt.
Trump wrote that phase two must begin immediately, referring to the second phase of negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, said today that he hopes for positive developments "in the coming hours" when it comes to the return of more bodies.
He said he expected news in the coming hours about the return of "other fallen prisoners," and added that the Israeli government was determined to do everything to return them.
A Hamas official said today that at least four more bodies of hostages will be returned to Israel tonight.
In the Gaza Strip, Hamas today expanded its presence into areas from which the Israeli army withdrew without waiting for the continuation of negotiations on the US president's 20-point plan.
The first phase of the plan envisages a ceasefire, with the return of Israeli hostages alive and the bodies of the dead, as well as the exchange of Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
The continuation of the American plan envisages the establishment of a government in Gaza from which the Palestinian Islamist Hamas will be excluded.
There are likely to be a number of contentious issues during negotiations on the next stages of the agreement, including the call for Hamas to lay down its arms, which the group has reportedly rejected.
Israel will not reopen the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza today and will reduce the flow of aid to the Palestinian territory, according to reports, a decision made after Hamas returned only four bodies out of 28 Israeli hostages on Monday.
The United Nations (UN) humanitarian chief, Jeremy Bowen, said Israel must keep the crossings to Gaza open so that "much-needed aid" can be delivered.
He told the BBC that both sides must fully implement the ceasefire agreement and that Hamas must return the bodies of the hostages home.
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