Hamas says to hand over bodies of three Israeli hostages at 1800 GMT

GAZA CITY: Hamas' armed wing said it would hand over the bodies of three Israeli captives later on Sunday as part of the ongoing hostage-prisoner exchange under a ceasefire agreement for Gaza with Israel.

"The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades will hand over the bodies... that were found earlier today along the route of one of the tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip at 8:00 pm Gaza time (1800 GMT)," the group said on its Telegram channel.

Despite occasional flare-ups, a fragile truce has held in Gaza since October 10 under a US-brokered deal focused on the return of all Israeli hostages, both living and dead.

Since the truce began, Hamas has released 20 surviving hostages and started handing over the remains of those killed.

Of the 28 bodies, it has so far returned 17 - including 15 Israelis, one Thai national, and one Nepalese.

Israel has accused Hamas of dragging its feet in returning the bodies, while the Palestinian group says the process is slow because many remains are buried beneath Gaza's rubble.

An Israeli campaign group representing the families of hostages have called for "determined" efforts to bring back the remains of those captives still missing.

"The Hostage Families demand that the prime minister act with determination and firmness in order to bring about the immediate realisation of Hamas' commitments under the agreement and to return all of the deceased hostages to Israel's hands," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.