On the 21st local time, according to a statement issued by the Israel Defense Forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross received the bodies of two Israeli detainees from Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip and handed them over to the Israel Defense Forces troops stationed in the Gaza Strip.

Later that day, the Israeli army issued a statement saying that the bodies of two Israeli detainees received from Hamas had arrived in Israel.

Earlier, Hamas also announced that it would hand over the remains of the two detained persons to Israel later that day, but did not disclose the identities of the two persons.

According to the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, Hamas released a total of 20 Israeli detainees in two batches on the 13th, while Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and successively handed over the remains of hundreds of Palestinian detainees. According to Israel, Hamas handed over 16 bodies to Israel, but one of the deceased was not an Israeli detainee.

Israel postponed the opening of the port of Rafah, which is critical for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, indefinitely because Hamas failed to deliver the remains of all detainees on time, while Hamas said it takes time to find the remains buried under the rubble and faces difficulties such as a lack of heavy equipment.