Hamas on Tuesday night transferred two caskets it said contained the remains of deceased Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, marking the latest exchange under the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza even as violence threatens to upend the deal.

The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it facilitated the handover to the IDF, who draped the caskets in Israeli flags and held a brief ceremony led by a military rabbi before transferring them to Israel’s Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

The terror group’s military wing claimed the bodies had been “retrieved today in the Strip,” without identifying the victims. If confirmed, the return would lower the number of deceased hostages still held by Hamas from 15 to 13. At the start of the ceasefire on October 10, the remains of 28 Israeli captives were believed to be inside Gaza.

Tuesday’s transfer came a day after Hamas returned the body of slain hostage Tal Haimi, part of the ongoing exchange framework that trades the bodies of Palestinian casualties for Israeli hostages. Under the agreement, Israel returns the remains of 15 Palestinians for every Israeli body handed over.

The Red Cross said it also facilitated the repatriation of 15 Palestinian bodies to Gaza on Tuesday, bringing the total transferred under the deal to 165.

“The International Committee of the Red Cross today facilitated the transfer of deceased Palestinians to authorities in Gaza,” the organization said in a statement.

The handovers took place as Israel reported new clashes in southern Gaza. Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded earlier Tuesday when their tank was struck by an explosive device near Khan Younis. The military said the soldiers were evacuated to a hospital and that an investigation is underway to determine when the device was planted.

The incident followed a deadly flare-up two days earlier in Rafah, where gunmen emerged from a tunnel inside Israeli-held territory and launched RPGs at troops, killing two soldiers and wounding several others. Israel blamed Hamas for the attack, though the group denied responsibility, claiming it had “lost contact” with its operatives in the area.

In response, the IDF struck roughly 20 targets in Gaza, with Hamas-run civil defense officials claiming 45 people were killed. Those figures could not be independently verified.

The latest exchange underscores both the delicate progress and persistent volatility of the ceasefire framework — one that hinges on Hamas continuing to return hostages, living or deceased, in exchange for bodies and humanitarian relief, and on Israel exercising restraint in its military operations.

Officials from both sides, speaking through intermediaries, have signaled a desire to maintain the fragile calm, but with the situation on the ground still tense, the risk of renewed fighting remains high.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)