Hamas released what it said were the remains of Shiri Bibas and her two young children. But none of the returned bodies were a match for Ms. Bibas, according to the Israeli military.

Israel will free 602 Palestinian detainees on Saturday, including 50 sentenced to life imprisonment, in exchange for six Israeli captives.

Negotiations for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal “will happen this week”, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says, after Israel gave mixed signals about its engagement. Hamas leader in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya says four Israeli captives’ bodies will be handed over in the war-torn enclave on Thursday and six living abductees on Saturday as part of the precarious ceasefire agreement with Israel.

A poll conducted by Maariv showed that 70% of Israelis support implementing the second phase of the prisoner exchange deal.

When three Israeli hostages emerged at the weekend, emaciated after 16 months in Hamas captivity, Israelis were shocked by the images.

Israel has issued a tender for the construction of nearly 1,000 additional settler homes in the occupied West Bank, an anti-settlement watchdog said Monday. Israelis and Palestinians meanwhile marked the 500th day since Hamas' attack into Israel ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.

Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip, block a freeway during a protest demanding their release from Hamas captivity as they mark 500 days of the Israel-Hamas war in Tel Aviv,

Military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis are still displaced.

Israel has occupied the Gaza Strip and West Bank since its victory in the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinians hope that one day both territories will become part of a nation-state they can call their own.

Israel launched a major military incursion in the northern West Bank in August, which it called “Operation Summer Camps.” It sent armored vehicles into the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem, severing water and electricity and leading Palestinians to ration food, residents told CNN.

By Raneen Sawafta and James MackenzieJENIN, West Bank/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel sent tanks into the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years on Sunday as it ordered the military to prepare for an "extended stay" to fight Palestinian militant groups in the area's refugee camps.