Bodies of four Israeli hostages arrive in Tel Aviv

A convoy carrying the bodies of four hostages who died in Gaza arrived at Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv.

A crowd of Israelis, carrying the national flag, stood silently at the institute entrance as the white vans drove in.

Hamas handed over the bodies of Israeli infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, the two youngest captives taken by Hamas in their October 7, 2023 attack and among the most potent symbols of the trauma inflicted that day.

Hamas said in November 2023 that the boys and their mother, whose body was also among those handed over, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, but their deaths were never confirmed by Israeli authorities and even at the last minute, some refused to accept they were dead.

Body of former journalist, Oded Lifshitz, was also released under the Gaza ceasefire agreement reached last month with the backing of the United States and the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was "united in unbearable grief" with the return of four bodies of Israeli hostages, including two very young captives of Hamas.

He vowed to avenge the slain hostages who were kidnapped alive from their homes on October 7, 2023 but came back in coffins from Gaza.

In a video statement, Netanyahu quoted Pslam 94 and vowed he will "bring back all of our hostages, will annihilate the murderers, and eliminate Hamas."

The handover marks the first return of dead bodies during the current agreement and Israel is not expected to confirm their identities until full DNA checks have been completed.

Critics argue that Netanyahu has not done enough to bring the hostages back, which he rejects.

So far 19 Israeli hostages have been released, as well as five Thais who were returned in an unscheduled handover.