Shiri Bibas, an Israeli woman, and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir, were said to be among those returned. A senior U.N. official called the Hamas display “abhorrent and cruel.”

The remains of the youngest and one of the oldest captives seized by Hamas during the attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip are expected to be returned Thursday, an Israeli official said Wednesday.

Oded Lifschitz, whose body was returned from Gaza on Thursday, was a campaigner for peace and had many Palestinian friends.