Israel says Hamas has not provided any information about the status of those 34 hostages, dampening any notion that the endorsement is a step toward a deal to stop the war.

Relatives of hostages are pressuring Israel's government to reach a ceasefire with Hamas. Hamas has reportedly agreed on a list of 34 names of hostages still held in Gaza-- the people who would be freed should the ceasefire deal with the Israeli government currently under discussion in Qatar go ahead.

Israel said Monday that Hamas had yet to clarify whether 34 hostages it said it was ready to free were dead or alive, throwing doubt on the group's assertion that it needed time to ascertain their fate.

The deal would secure release of a third of the approximately 100 hostages who remain in Gaza, including two dual U.S.-Israeli nationals. In return, Israel would release some Palestinian prisoners.

Hamzah AlZaydani's body was retrieved with that of his father, Yosef AlZaydani, who were taken together by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli military said Wednesday that its troops recovered the body of a hostage in Gaza and brought it back to Israel following a "complex and difficult operation".Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in an online briefing that troops carried out what he described as a "complex and difficult special operation" to retrieve the body.

The body of Bedouin Arab hostage Youssef al-Zayadna was repatriated to Israel from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Israeli military said, in what it termed as a "complex and difficult operation" as mediators continue to push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.