Ahead of the announcement, Hamas had returned the remains of 21 hostages to Israel under the terms of the ceasefire that began Oct. 10.

Hundreds of mourners filled a military cemetery in Israel for the funeral of a soldier whose body was recently returned as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

The set of remains handed over to Israel on Tuesday were those of Itay Chen, the final remaining American Israeli hostage, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Rejecting a Hamas exchange proposal, Smotrich emphasizes eliminating terrorists and backs Israel’s independence in Gaza, despite ongoing US involvement in stabilization efforts. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich emphasized the need to eliminate the hundreds of terrorists on the Israeli side of Gaza's Yellow Line in Rafah,

USAID Office of the Inspector General is pursuing allegations that U.S. taxpayer dollars sent to the Gaza Strip were diverted to Hamas terrorists in the enclave.