An International Committee of the Red Cross vehicle transports the bodies of three Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas in Gaza, November 2, 2025. /VCG
Hamas handed over the bodies of three hostages on Sunday, even as the Palestinian militant group traded blame with Israel for violations of the tenuous truce that has mostly halted two years of conflict.
Israeli forces in Gaza received coffins carrying the bodies of three hostages, conveyed through the Red Cross, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said. The remains will be transported to Israel for identification.
The bodies are expected to be those of three of the 11 hostages whose remains Israel is seeking from Gaza under the terms of the ceasefire. Israel has said Hamas has been too slow in delivering them; Hamas says it is working as quickly as possible under difficult conditions.
The issue has been just one of the disputes holding up full implementation of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in place since October 10.
Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli air strike killed one man in northern Gaza. The Israeli military said its aircraft had struck a militant who was posing a threat to its forces. "There are still Hamas pockets in the areas under our control in Gaza, and we are systematically eliminating them," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting.
"Disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip is our guiding principle," Netanyahu said, adding that it was a goal he had agreed on with U.S. President Donald Trump. "If it cannot be achieved one way, it will be achieved another."
Netanyahu said Israeli forces would continue to act to protect troops still in Gaza, adding that Israel would notify its U.S. allies of operations "but will not ask their permission." He said Israel would not compromise its "supreme security responsibility."
Hamas released what it described as a list of violations of the ceasefire by Israel. Ismail Al-Thawabta, the director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, denied that Hamas fighters had violated the truce by attacking Israeli soldiers.
Trucks carrying aid drive through Khan Younis, southern Gaza, November 2, 2025. /VCG
Gathering the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia, a meeting in Istanbul on Monday is expected to deal with Gaza ceasefire developments and the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
In the face of a fragile ceasefire, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is expected to call for arrangements to be made as soon as possible to ensure the security and administration of Gaza by Palestinians, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source told Xinhua on Sunday.
Countries taking part in the Istanbul talks all attended a meeting with Trump in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The U.S.-brokered Gaza truce has left thorny issues like the disarmament of Hamas and a timeline for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza unresolved. Fidan is set to say at the meeting that Israel is "making excuses" to end the ceasefire and emphasize the need for the international community to "take a resolute stance against Israel's provocative actions."
Fidan is also expected to say that humanitarian aid entering Gaza is insufficient and Israel has not fulfilled its obligations in this regard.