Israel mourns four captives reported dead in Gaza by the army amid growing doubts and international pressure over a plan for a ceasefire and hostage release deal outlined by US President Joe Biden, AFP reports.

In the besieged Palestinian territory, Israeli strikes continued early on Tuesday, particularly in Bureij in central Gaza where local hospital sources reported several deaths.

Israel’s military on Monday announced the deaths in Gaza of four hostages seized during the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, naming them as Chaim Perry, Yoram Metzger, Amiram Cooper and Nadav Popplewell. Their bodies were still in the hands of Hamas, it added.

Cooper, 84, Metzger, 80, and Perry, 80, were abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz while Israeli-British citizen Popplewell, 51, was kidnapped from the Nirim kibbutz.

British foreign minister David Cameron said he was “greatly saddened to hear about the death” of Popplewell, adding: “We reiterate our demand for Hamas to send all hostages home”.

“They should have returned alive to their country and their families,” the Hostages Families Forum said.