The exchange marked another step forward for the tenuous, US-brokered truce. As part of the deal, Israel has returned the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage.
The Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said the 15 bodies were brought by the Red Cross.
The return came after Israel confirmed the remains of a hostage body was identified as that of Lior Rudaeff, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Rudaeff was born in Argentina and moved to Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, a farming community in southern Israel, as a child. He volunteered for more than 40 years as an ambulance driver and was a member of the community's emergency response team.
The forum said he was killed in the Hamas-led attack and that his body was taken to Gaza.
Under the October ceasefire deal Hamas turned over all 20 living hostages still held in Gaza since the group's 2023 attack on Israel, in return for nearly 2000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees held in Israel.
The ceasefire agreement also included the return of remains of 28 deceased hostages in exchange for remains of 360 militants. So far, 22 hostage bodies have been returned in exchange for 285 bodies of Palestinians, though not all have been identified according to Gaza's health authorities.
Hamas-led militants seized 251 hostages in the 2023 attack and killed another 1200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 69,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, health officials in Gaza say.
The tenuous ceasefire has calmed most but not all fighting, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to the ruins of their homes in Gaza. Israel has withdrawn troops from positions in cities and more aid has been allowed in.
with AP
