DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel handed over the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Monday, according to the Red Cross, a day after militants returned the remains of three hostages. Israeli officials identified the three as soldiers who were killed in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the war.

The exchange marked another step forward for the tenuous, U.S.-brokered ceasefire intended to end the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas.

Since the truce took effect on Oct. 10, Palestinian militants have released the remains of 20 hostages, with eight now still remaining in Gaza.

For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians. With Monday's return, the bodies of 270 Palestinians have been handed back since the start of the ceasefire.

Slow identification process in Gaza

The Red Cross said it had facilitated the transfer of 45 Palestinian bodies to Gaza on Monday morning. Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesperson at the Gaza Health Ministry, told The Associated Press that Nasser Hospital received the bodies around noon.

Only 78 of the bodies returned so far have been identified, the ministry said. Forensic work is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits in Gaza, it added. The ministry posts photos of the remains online, in the hope that families will recognize them.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office identified the three hostages, whose bodies were returned to Israel on Sunday night, as Capt. Omer Neutra, an American-Israeli, Staff Sgt. Oz Daniel and Col. Assaf Hamami. A Hamas statement earlier said their remains were found on Sunday in a tunnel in southern Gaza.

Neutra was 21 when Hamas militants abducted his tank crew during the 2023 attack. In December 2024, the military announced Neutra had been killed in the attack.

Daniel, 19, was part of the tank crew and was taken into Gaza. Nimrod Cohen, who was also in the tank, was released alive earlier, as was the body of one of the other crew members.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he had spoken with Neutra's family. “They were thrilled, in one sense, but in another sense, obviously, it’s not too great,” Trump said.

Hamami, commander of Israel’s southern brigade in the Gaza division, was killed during the 2023 attack while fighting to defend Kibbutz Nirim and his body was taken into the Palestinian territory.

Militants have released one to three bodies every few days. Israel has pushed to speed up the returns and in certain cases has said the remains were not those of hostages. Hamas has said the work is complicated by widespread devastation.

Arrests of 2 ex-military figures rock Israel

Since Sunday, a political scandal has rocked Israel involving the military's former legal chief, Maj. Gen. Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, after she admitted to leaking a video of Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee and resigned from office.

Far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's national security minister, said she was arrested Sunday night. At a court hearing Monday, the judge extended her detention by 48 hours until Wednesday, according to a copy of the decision. It said she is being held on suspicion of offenses including fraud, breach of trust and obstruction of justice. The investigation continues while she is held in a women’s prison in central Israel.

Police conducted a frantic search for Tomer-Yerushalmi on Sunday after her family raised concerns for her safety and police found her abandoned car near the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. Police said she was found soon after the search began.

Israeli media reported that former chief military prosecutor Col. Matan Solomesh was also arrested overnight and his detention was also extended.

The Palestinian detainee who was the subject of sexual abuse in the video leaked by Tomer-Yerushalmi last year was released and returned to Gaza on Oct. 13, according to documentation from the military prosecutor's office obtained by the AP.

Efforts to ramp up Gaza aid and a vaccination campaign

The exchange of hostage remains for Palestinian bodies has been the central part of the initial phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The 20-point plan includes the formation of an international stabilization force of Arab and other partners that would work with Egypt and Jordan on securing Gaza’s borders and ensure the ceasefire is respected.

Multiple nations have shown interest in taking part in a peacekeeping force but have called for a clear U.N. Security Council mandate before committing troops.

Other difficult questions include Hamas’ disarmament and the governance of a postwar Gaza, as well as when and how humanitarian aid will be increased.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will visit Jordan on Monday and call on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza. She is expected to visit a warehouse where British aid remains stuck waiting to enter Gaza.

Ahead of the visit, Cooper said that “humanitarian support is desperately needed and the people of Gaza cannot afford to wait.”

“Following the U.S.-led peace process and the plans for a substantial increase in aid for Gaza, we need an increase in crossings, an acceleration in lifting of restrictions and more agencies able to go in with aid,” Cooper said.

Cooper also announced that Britain will provide an extra 6 million pounds ($7.9 million) of humanitarian support for Gaza, provided by the U.N. Population Fund.

Also Monday, Gaza’s Health Ministry announced that a campaign to vaccinate some 40,000 Palestinian children under 3 years old against preventable diseases like measles, polio and meningitis will kick off next week.

It will focus on children who missed routine vaccinations or received only partial doses due to the war, Dr. Nedal Ghoneim, the Health Ministry’s public health manager, told the AP. The exact number of children in need of routine vaccinations is unknown due to challenges record-keeping during the war, said Ghoneim.

The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel two years ago killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

Israel, which has denied accusations by a U.N. commission of inquiry and others of committing genocide in Gaza, has disputed the ministry’s figures without providing a contradicting toll.

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Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Renata Brito in Jerusalem; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel; Jill Lawless in London and Aamer Madhani in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

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