After identification, their families will be notified immediately, the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement overnight.

Hamas said earlier that it would return the bodies of hostages Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi, Guy Illouz, and Bipin Joshi on Monday local time.

Before entering Israeli soil, IDF troops conducted a ceremony in which they covered the coffins with Israeli flags, saluted, and recited a Psalm chapter, as per their statement.

In previous instances where bodies were returned, a DNA analysis was performed to confirm the identities of the people.

The hostage families, though not expecting all the bodies back on Monday, expressed being “shocked and dismayed” when informed only four would be handed over, as stated by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

As part of a US-mediated agreement, Hamas and its allies were supposed to release all remaining hostages, both living and deceased, within 72 hours following the ceasefire announcement.

However, CNN reported last week that Israel assessed that Hamas may not be able to find and return all the remaining dead hostages in Gaza.

Shosh Bedrosian, spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, mentioned that an international committee would assist in finding bodies that Hamas might struggle to locate.

It is unclear what that taskforce will look like at this time.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is determined that they will act promptly to locate all hostages, describing it as a “sacred duty of communal responsibility,” according to Bedrosian.