ReutersIsrael and Hamas said the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza will return Wednesday night after mediators settled the latest ceasefire dispute.
Israel will freely exchange 602 Palestinian prisoners, whose release has been postponed since last weekend in protest of what it calls the cruel treatment of the hostages handed over by Hamas.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that the four bodies would return “without Hamas Ceremony”, while the Israeli prison ceremony said it was preparing to release prisoners and detainees from Gaza.
Hamas also confirmed the exchange, and the Prisoner Media Office said a hospital in Gaza is preparing to accept the release of Palestinians.
This will give our Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff the road to visit the area. He said he hopes Israel and Hamas will start delaying negotiations in the second phase of the ceasefire, which will expire on Saturday.
News of the breakthrough came as roads in central and southern Israel gathered together to watch the hostage funeral Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Ariel and Kfir, Hamas returned to the body last week.
They were imprisoned after being kidnapped in an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering a war in Gaza. Israel said they were murdered by the kidnappers, rejecting Hamas’ claim that they died in Israeli air strikes.
Hamas said Tuesday night that a delegation led by the group’s Gaza leader Khalil al-Hayya held talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo after reaching a deal to resolve the delayed release of Palestinian prisoners.
“They will be released at the same time as the bodies of Israel [hostages] In addition to the corresponding Palestinian women and children, the transfer was agreed in the first phase. ”
Haya also reiterated that Hamas was banned as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries and was committed to a ceasefire agreement of “all phases and clauses.”
Israeli officials also said an agreement had been reached with mediators, but it was confirmed by a brief statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday afternoon.
It said: “Our four of our deceased hostages will return in the framework of the first phase with agreed procedures without Hamas’ rituals.”
A spokesman for Hamas Military Department later announced: “In the framework of the transaction, the Izdin al-qassam Brigade has decided to hand over four bodies. [hostages] tonight. ”
He identified them as Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, Itzik Elgaraat, 69.
Israeli prison ceremony confirmed it was “preparing for the process of releasing incarcerated terrorists under the agreement”.
Operations will escort Palestinian prisoners and detainees to Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, as well as Ketziot Prison in southern Israel, where they will be identified by the Red Cross and await the handover of Israel’s hostages, a statement said.
It added that once their release is approved, they will be driven by the Red Cross to the release point in the West Bank and with Kerem Shalom Crossing in southern Southern Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoner Media Office said that the European Gaza Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis is preparing to accept the European Gaza hospital returning to Gaza.
It had previously said that the 602 Palestinians included 445 Gazas who were detained by Israeli troops during the war and 50 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment in Israeli prisons.
AFPThey should have been released last Saturday in exchange for six living people and four dead hostages handed over by Hamas, including Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas.
But the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said earlier Sunday that it would postpone the release “in light of Hamas’ repeated violations, including rituals to insult our hostages and cynical hostages to disperse the hostages for propaganda purposes.”
Hamas said Israel’s decision was a “blatant” violation and said further steps, including in the second phase of the deal, conditional on the release of prisoners.
During the six weeks of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, a total of 33 Israeli hostages were swapped for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza.
So far, 25 living people and 4 dead hostages have been released. Both Israel and Hamas say the last four hostages died. The hostages of five Thais have also been released.
The agreement has already evacuated Israeli forces from the densely populated Gaza region. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been allowed to return to the north, and thousands of aid trucks are now allowed to enter the territory every day.
The second phase of the ceasefire should see the remaining 57 hostages, all Israeli evacuation from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to deal with the October 7 attack and destroy Hamas, with about 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostages.
At least 48,348 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to data from the Hamas Party’s health ministry in the region.
Most of Gaza’s 2.1 million people have also been displaced multiple times, with an estimated nearly 70% of buildings damaged or damaged, health care, water, sanitation and sanitation systems already collapsed, and food, fuel, fuel, medicine and shelter shortages.
