The bodies of 28 other Israeli hostages were also due to be recovered and released under the terms of the deal, although Hamas said it would return only four on Monday. The group had warned during negotiations that it would be unable to find all the bodies by the 72-hour deadline because of the destruction in Gaza.

In Israel, the hostages’ families have emerged as a political force, with many channeling their agony into calls for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to bring their loved ones home and end the war. The hostage crisis had cast a long shadow across Israeli society, with hundreds of thousands joining demonstrations calling for a deal to secure the captives’ release.