Israel says received body of one of final four Gaza hostages

Israel receives another hostage body from Gaza.

Israel received the body of one of the last four hostages held in Gaza from the Red Cross on Thursday as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

The coffin was handed over in the Gaza Strip to the Israeli army and Shin Bet security service, the office said, adding that it would be sent to Tel Aviv for identification.

The military later said the body had reached Israeli soil.

Earlier on Thursday, the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad had said they would hand over the remains as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel in Gaza.

Hamas said the body was found in Khan Yunis in the south of the territory.

At the start of the truce, which came into effect on October 10, Hamas was holding 20 living hostages and 28 bodies of deceased captives.

It has since released all the living hostages and before Thursday had returned the remains of 24 dead hostages, in line with the ceasefire terms.

In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of dead Palestinians.

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