The announcement Monday that Hamas had released the body of another hostage offered hope to Israeli families waiting for the remains of loved ones to come back from Gaza.

Then came word that the militant group had returned only partial remains from a hostage who was recovered by Israeli troops nearly two years ago.

That brought fresh heartbreak to the families of the 13 hostages whose bodies are still somewhere in the devastated Palestinian territory.

More than two weeks after the start of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, relatives are enduring a terrible waiting game in the quest to lay their loved ones to rest.

The slow return of remains is the most immediate threat to the truce that began October 10, and it's a sensitive issue for the Israeli public, which places religious and cultural importance on retrieving bodies for burial in Israel.

Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli-American soldier who was killed in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and whose body was taken by Hamas, said her family longs for the closure of bringing Omer Neutra home.

As part of the ceasefire, Hamas released 20 living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Militants also released the remains of 15 hostages.

Hamas says it has not been able to reach all of the remains because they are buried under rubble left behind by Israel’s two-year offensive in Gaza.

Israel has accused the militants of dragging their feet and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all of the remains are not returned.

This week, Hamas said it expanded its search for hostage bodies into new areas of Gaza.

Egypt has also deployed a team of experts and heavy equipment to help retrieve bodies.

Omer Neutra, 21, was born and raised on Long Island, New York, and moved to Israel to enlist in the military as a volunteer.

He was serving as an officer on the Gaza border and was abducted with the rest of his tank crew.

He and two others were killed.

One soldier survived and was released this month after two years in captivity.

Neutra’s parents made 40 trips to Washington to lobby for their son, appeared regularly at protests in the U.S. and Israel and addressed the Republican National Convention last year.

For more than a year following the October 7 attack, they believed Omer was still alive.

After 14 months, they received word from the military that intelligence indicated Omer was killed during the 2023 attack.

“It’s not based on any forensic evidence. It’s based on some intelligence, and it’s very hard to reconcile that,” Omer’s mother said.

AP video shot by: Ami Bentov