Hamas militants have released the bodies of four more hostages from the Gaza Strip more than 16 months after they were taken captive.

Hayya, leader of Hamas in Gaza, said the bodies of four hostages would be returned on Thursday. Six living hostages would follow on Saturday.

"I didn’t do enough to save them," said an Israeli onlooker paying final respects to four captives coming home in coffins.

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.

Famine has been mostly averted in Gaza as a surge of aid enters the territory during a fragile ceasefire, the United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday. But he warned the threat could return quickly if the truce collapses.

The 251 people, mostly Israelis, were taken hostage by Hamas and dragged back into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, when the militant group launched its bloody surprise attack on Israel that ignited the war. Sixty-five hostages are believed to remain in Hamas' custody in Gaza. Many are believed dead.

Three Israeli hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza by Palestinian militants on Saturday, in the sixth exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal that came into effect last month.

Israel’s defense minister says “all hell will break loose” if Hamas does not release three hostages as planned this weekend

Hamas handed over the bodies of the two boys and their mother of the Bibas family as well as a fourth hostage, Oded Lifschitz, on Thursday (Feb 20) under the Jan 19 Gaza ceasefire agreement with Israel.