As a neutral humanitarian intermediary, the ICRC remains committed to its role in facilitating further releases upon the agreement of the parties to ensure that all hostages are freed, more detainees are reunited with their families, and life-saving humanitarian work can continue.

For more information about the ICRC’s work in Israel and the occupied territories and our role during release operations, please visit here.

The barbaric treatment drew condemnations from around the world — and even from Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, who called the display, “a disgrace to Islam.”

Hamas is under pressure from Israel and the U.S. at a crucial time for the Gaza ceasefire as it claims it could have misidentified a hostage's remains.

Israel and the terrorist group Hamas Tuesday agreed in principle to further exchange Palestinian prison inmates for the bodies of four Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire,

GAZA/JERUSALEM -- Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on the exchange of the bodies of dead hostages for the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian and Israeli sources said Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed "revenge" after the Israeli military said one of the four bodies recently released by Hamas did not include a hostage.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Wednesday night to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a source with Hamas told Xinhua.

The militant group turned over four coffins it said contained the bodies of Israeli captives, and Israel began releasing Palestinian prisoners.