Israeli, Qatari and US delegations are in Egypt for "intensive" talks on the next stages of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to the State Information Service in Cairo.
"The relevant parties have begun intensive talks to discuss the next phases of the truce agreement, amid ongoing efforts to ensure the implementation of the previously agreed understandings," it said in a statement.
Negotiators are also discussing ways to "enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid" to Gaza, the statement added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent negotiators to Egypt after Palestinian militant group Hamas handed over the remains of four hostages in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
The swap was the last of the first phase of the ceasefire, which expires on Saturday.
A total of 58 hostages are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military said are dead.
Future exchanges for their release, as well as steps towards a more permanent end to the war, are among the issues to be hammered out in talks.
Hamas said that it stands ready to release all remaining hostages in one go if the second stage is agreed.
It added that Israel had "no choice" but to start negotiations on a second phase of the truce.
"We have cut off the path before the enemy's false justifications, and it has no choice but to start negotiations for the second phase," the group said on Telegram.
Our hearts ache upon receiving the bitter news of the identification of Ohad Yahalomi, Tsachi Idan, Itzik Elgarat, and Shlomo Mantzur, whose bodies were returned overnight from captivity at the hands of Hamas terrorists.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) February 27, 2025
In this painful moment, there is some solace in knowing… pic.twitter.com/fE6khe7kS0
Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed that Israel had received the coffins of "four fallen hostages".
The country's President Isaac Herzog said they had been identified as Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi and Shlomo Mantzur.
The sister of 86-year-old Mr Mantzur confirmed that his body had been returned.
"We received the announcement ... it's very difficult," Hadassa Lazar told Channel 12 by telephone.
Israel said last February that Mr Mantzur had been killed in the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 and his body taken to Gaza.
In Gaza and the occupied West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians freed by Israel arrived on buses accompanied by Red Cross vehicles.
More than 600 detainees had been due to be released in the latest exchange, and Egypt's state-linked Al-Qahera News said 97 of them arrived on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.
They were supposed to have been freed at the weekend, but Israel stopped the process following outrage over elaborate ceremonies that Hamas had been holding to hand over hostages seized in the October 2023 attack.
Several of the Palestinians freed to Ramallah were hoisted in the air on arrival, some of them conducting interviews from the shoulders of friends or relatives.
A group of women broke into tears as they gathered around one released man, and a child held aloft made peace signs with both hands.
Hamas said the return of the four Israeli bodies would take place in private "to prevent the occupation from finding any pretext for delay or obstruction".
The ceasefire has largely halted the war and resulted in 25 hostages being released alive in exchange for more than 1,100 prisoners.
However, there have been sporadic incidents of violence.
The Israeli military said it carried out air strikes on several launch sites inside Gaza after a projectile was fired from there yesterday, though the munition fell short.
Thousands of people gathered in Israel yesterday for the funeral of Shiri Bibas and her sons, who were killed in captivity in Gaza and had become symbols of the country's hostage ordeal.
The Israeli parliament held a minute of silence to mourn their deaths, as well as those of other victims of the 2023 Hamas attack.
"Yesterday (Tuesday), the funeral of Oded Lifshitz took place; today (Wednesday), the funeral of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas is taking place. We remember all the victims of October 7. We remember, and we will not forget," said speaker Amir Ohana.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the attack, the deadliest in the country's history and has made bringing back all the hostages taken that day a central war aim.
The attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,215 people, most of them civilians, according to a tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliation in Gaza has killed more than 48,348 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures that the United Nations considers credible.
At the Bibas family funeral, father Yarden Bibas, who was abducted separately on 7 October and released alive in a previous exchange, apologised to his late wife and sons.
"Shiri, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you all," he said in his eulogy, his voice cracking.
