Israel has urged Hamas to disclose the locations of the hostages’ bodies, warning that the group is running out of time to do so.

The Israeli Defense Forces have confirmed that the exchange took place at approximately 1 a.m. local time (9 a.m. AEDT).

Concerns are mounting within the international community about whether Israel might use Hamas’s inability to locate bodies trapped under debris as a justification to disrupt the ceasefire, one observer noted.

On Friday, Red Cross teams and Palestinian rescue workers were engaged in efforts to recover the remains of Israeli hostages from the rubble in Khan Younis, Gaza. Source: Anadolu, Getty / Hani Alshaer

Earlier on Friday, Hamas called on mediators to push for the next steps under the ceasefire, including reopening the border, letting in aid, beginning reconstruction, setting up an administration and completing Israel’s withdrawal.

The Israeli military did not comment on the incident.