Remains of four dead hostages returned to Israel with psalm and flag ceremony

Coffins containing the bodies of four hostages seized by Hamas in their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel have returned home overnight.

The coffins of the four dead hostages are now in Israel, according to police, and being escorted by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) to be formally identified at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv.

After identification, their families will be notified immediately, the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement overnight.

READ MORE: Tears across Israel as living hostages reunite with families

Hamas said earlier that it would return the bodies of hostages Daniel Peretz, Yossi Sharabi, Guy Illouz, and Bipin Joshi on Monday local time.

Before crossing into Israeli territory, the IDF soldiers staged a ceremony in which they draped the hostages' coffins with Israeli flags, saluted them, and recited a chapter from the Book of Psalms, according to their statement.

In previous instances where bodies were returned, a DNA analysis was performed to confirm the identities of the people.

READ MORE: Palestinians celebrate as prisoners are released by Israel

While the hostage families did not expect all of the bodies to return on Monday, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said previously it had been "were shocked and dismayed" by the news only four would be released.

Under the agreement brokered by the US, Hamas and its allies were meant to release all of the remaining hostages, alive and dead, within 72 hours of the ceasefire being announced.

However, CNN reported last week that Israel assessed that Hamas may not be able to find and return all the remaining dead hostages in Gaza.

READ MORE: Trump claims heroic role as final living Israeli hostages freed

An international committee will help locate the bodies that Hamas may be unable to find, Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Israel's Prime Minister's Office said Sunday.

It is unclear what that taskforce will look like at this time.

"The Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) insists that we will act to locate all of these hostages as soon as possible, and we will do that as a sacred duty of communal responsibility," Bedrosian said.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.