JERUSALEM – Hamas handed over four dead hostages to the Red Cross early Thursday in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners a few days before the first phase of the Gaza Strip ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Hamas had given the bodies to the Red Cross, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog said all four were later identified in X.
The bodies were received almost simultaneously on Wednesday, and a Red Cross fleet carrying dozens of released Palestinian prisoners left Israeli prisons. A crowd of cheering family, friends and supporters of Palestinian prisoners gathered in Beitonia to get a glimpse of the bus along the way.
Hamas said Thursday that it is ready to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire, adding that the “only way” for Israel to secure the release of the remaining hostages is to comply with negotiations and agreements. When he tried to pull back from the ceasefire, he warned that it would lead to more suffering for the prisoners and their families.
Israel More than 600 Palestinian prisoners were delayed Since Saturday, he has protested what is called the cruel treatment of hostages during the extradition by Hamas. The terrorist group called the delay a “serious violation” of the ceasefire, saying that consultations in the second phase would not be possible until the Palestinians are released. Deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire on Saturday when the current six-week first phase expires. However, late Tuesday, Hamas said an agreement was reached to resolve the dispute during a meeting in Cairo.
Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that the release of the body without a ceremony will take place without a ceremony, in contrast to previous Hamas releases at a stage management event in front of crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, has caused humiliation for hostages.
Among those who left Israel early Thursday, hundreds of detainees from Gaza who were arrested on suspicion of extremism after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, were arrested from Gaza, and the attack was attacked without months. They include 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman arrested after the Hamas attack, according to a list shared by Palestinian officials who do not specify an age.
In this round, only about 50 Palestinians had been released in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Dozens of people sentenced to life in prison for fatal attacks on Israelis will be taken to Egypt at least temporarily and expelled from Palestinian territory until other countries accept it.
The handover completed both sides’ duties during the first phase of the ceasefire, during which Hamas returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed in a brief statement early Wednesday that the agreement had been reached by the mediators, adding that “our four fallen hostages will be returned tonight, without Hamas rituals, under the agreed process, as part of Phase A.”
Before Thursday, Hamas had released the bodies of living Israeli hostages and prisoners who died in a massive ritual in which Israelis were paraded and forced to wave to the massive crowd. Israel, along with Red Cross and UN officials, has said the ritual is humiliating to hostages, and Israel delayed the release of prisoners scheduled for protests last weekend.
The latest agreement completes the obligations of both phase one of the ceasefires – during which Hamas aims to return 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
It also makes clear how likely the White House Mid East Emvoice Steve Witkov will make a visit to the area more likely.
Evelyn Hockstein / Pool / AFP
He said at Tuesday’s event in Washington for the US Jewish Commission, Israeli representatives are already in the process of meeting the next phase of the ceasefire agreement, reiterating that he is ready to return to the region again, according to French news agency AFP.
“We’ve made a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team now while we talk,” Witkov said, adding that there could be a discussion in Qatar’s capital, Cairo or Doha.
Witkov says he hopes that the sides will move into negotiations in the second phase, where all hostages Hamas holds will be released and the end of the war will be negotiated. The Phase Two lecture was supposed to start a few weeks ago, but never began.
A ceasefire mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar ended a heavy 15-month battle Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023extremists killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 others as hostages.
Israeli military attacks have killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, expelled an estimated 90% of the enclave’s population, and destroyed the territorial infrastructure and healthcare system, according to Gaza’s Hamasran Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health does not distinguish between civilians and extremist victims, but says more than half of the deaths were women and children.
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