JERUSALEM — Israeli police said Tuesday they had received the presumed remains of one of the last two deceased hostages in the Gaza Strip and were transporting them to the morgue for identification.

 

In a brief statement, the police said they were "currently escorting, with reverence, the coffin of the fallen hostage to the National Centre of Forensic Medicine".

 

The office of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said earlier Tuesday that Israel had received through the Red Cross "findings that were handed over to an [Israeli military] and [security] force inside the Gaza Strip".

 

"Upon completion of the identification process, formal notification will be delivered to the family," the statement from Netanyahu's office said.

 

It did not specify whether what was discovered were the remains of one of the last two Gaza hostages ,Israeli Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak ,but said authorities were in "continuous contact" with their families.

 

Under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire that went into effect in October, Palestinian fighters have handed over the last 20 living hostages, and so far the remains of 26 out of 28 deceased ones.

 

"A number of bodies were found under the rubble and are being examined," the official said, adding that search operations were ongoing and there was "no confirmation that any of these bodies found belong to an Israeli prisoner".

 

"The mediators were informed that if the two bodies are found, they will be handed over immediately to the Israeli side through the established mechanism," the official added.