Ramallah, West Bank - Israel released hundreds of Palestinian captives on Thursday, shortly after saying Hamas handed over coffins believed to contain the bodies of four hostages.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel had received the coffins of "four fallen hostages," and a process to formally identify them had started. A kibbutz later confirmed two of them were members of its community.

In Gaza and the occupied West Bank, AFP journalists saw hundreds of Palestinian captives freed by Israel arrive on buses accompanied by Red Cross vehicles.

More than 600 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 the Gaza Strip.

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They were supposed to have been freed over the weekend, but Israel stopped the process, citing the public release ceremonies organized by Hamas.

The Palestinian group said Thursday that Israel now had no choice but to start negotiations on a second phase.

"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," it said on Telegram.

In Washington, Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's top envoy to the Middle East, said Israeli representatives were en route to talks on the next phase of the ceasefire.

Several of the Palestinians freed in 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 person, and a child held aloft made peace signs with both hands.

Earlier, 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."

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The ceasefire has largely halted the brutal assault on Gaza, although Israel has been accused of repeatedly violating terms by continuing the killing of Palestinians and blocking vital aid.

Meanwhile, Israel has continued its attacks on the illegally occupied West Bank, where refugee camps and cities remain under siege.