Military representatives on Wednesday morning notified the families of three Israeli hostages that the bodies of their loved ones were returned to Israel by Hamas the night prior, including one whose death had not been confirmed by Israel until now. A fourth body transferred to Israel by the terror group belonged to an unidentified Palestinian, according to Israeli authorities.

The families of Staff Sgt. Tamir Nimrodi, 18, Uriel Baruch, 35, and Eitan Levy, 53, were notified that their bodies had been returned and had been identified at the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. The four bodies handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross on Tuesday night in Gaza City, then transferred to the Israeli military, had not been identified by the terror group.

The handover happened after Israel accused Hamas of violating the recently implemented ceasefire by withholding the bodies of deceased hostages. Hamas released the final 20 living hostages on Monday, as well as the bodies of four dead captives. Under the terms of the ceasefire, all 28 deceased captives were supposed to be returned.

After returning the remains of three captives on Tuesday, the terror group currently still holds the bodies of 21 dead hostages.

The prisoner release comes after Hamas freed all remaining Israeli hostages in keeping with the agreement on Monday afternoon. Under the accords, Israel is to release 250 Palestinian prisoners and more than 1,700 detainees.

Videos and broadcast feeds showed Palestinian prisoners on buses exiting a prison in southern Israel. Buses parked outside Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the afternoon had thousands of Palestinians huddled around them, awaiting the release of the former prisoners and detainees inside. Some appeared to pop their heads through the bus windows to talk with the crowds below.

President Volodymyr Zelensky won't seek a second term in office after Russia's full-scale war ends, he said in an interview with Axios published on Sept. 25.

Zelensky’s comments come amid ongoing peace efforts to end the war, although Russia refuses to agree to a ceasefire and continues its attacks on Ukraine.

"If we finish (the) war with (the) Russians, I'm ready not to go for the second term because it's not my goal — elections," Zelensky said in a released excerpt of the interview.

"I wanted very much in a very difficult period of time to be with my country, help my country. My goal is to finish the war”

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage deal that could open the way to ending a bloody two-year-old war that has upended the Middle East.
Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas militants' cross-border attack that triggered Israel's devastating assault on Gaza, indirect talks in Egypt yielded an agreement on the initial stage of Trump’s 20-point framework to bring peace to the Palestinian enclave.

The accord, if fully implemented, would bring the two sides closer than any previous effort to halt a war that had evolved into a regional conflict, drawing in countries such as Iran, Yemen and Lebanon, deepened Israel's international isolation and reshaped the Middle East.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a written statement, referring to the hostages held by Hamas: "With God's help we will bring them all home." He said he would convene his government on Thursday to approve the agreement.
Hamas confirmed it had reached an agreement to end the war, saying the deal includes an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave and a hostage-prisoner exchange. But the group called on Trump and guarantor states to ensure Israel fully implements the ceasefire, it added in a statement