Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists handed over the bodies of four hostages it killed to the Red Cross early Thursday in exchange for Israel's release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, days before the first phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was to end.
An Israeli security official confirmed that Hamas handed the hostages' bodies to the Red Cross. Israel said the caskets were delivered with the help of Egyptian mediators through an Israeli crossing and an identification process had begun.
At about the same time, a Red Cross convoy carrying several dozen released Palestinian prisoners left Israel's Ofer prison headed for the West Bank town of Beitunia.
Hundreds of other prisoners were to be sent to Gaza, many of them detained after Hamas' savage terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel had delayed the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas. The terrorist group called the delay a "serious violation" of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase aren't possible until the prisoners were freed.
Earlier Wednesday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the latest release of the hostages' bodies would be carried out without ceremony, as opposed to previous releases by Hamas with stage-managed events in front of crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and U.N. officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.
Also Wednesday, tens of thousands of Israelis lined highways as the bodies of a mother and her two young sons, killed by Hamas in captivity in Gaza, were taken for burial on Wednesday.
The bodies of Shiri Bibas and her sons, 9-month-old Kfir and 4-year-old Ariel, were handed over earlier this month. Israel said forensic evidence showed the children were killed by their captors in November 2023.
The husband and father, Yarden Bibas, was abducted separately and released in a different handover. His wife and their children were buried in a private ceremony near Kibbutz Nir Oz near Gaza, where they were living when they were abducted. They were buried in a joint grave next to Shiri's parents, who were killed in the attack.
Among the Palestinians scheduled to leave Israel early Thursday were hundreds of detainees arrested from Gaza, held on suspicion of terrorism after Hamas' attack. They included 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages.
Only about 50 were released into the West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round. Dozens sentenced to life over deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis will be exiled out of the Palestinian territories and taken to Egypt at least temporarily until other countries accept them.
The latest handovers would complete both sides' obligations under the ceasefire's first phase, during which Hamas returned 33 hostages, including eight dead bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The family of a hostage in Gaza said they were notified he is dead and his body was among those to be returned to Israel. The family did not say who informed them. Notifications typically come from Israel's military.
Tsachi Idan was taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. His eldest daughter, Maayan, was killed as terrorists shot through the door of the family's safe room. The terrorists then broadcast themselves on Facebook holding the family hostage in their home as two younger children pleaded to let them go.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X about Israeli-French hostage Ohad Yahalomi, whose body was also expected to be released: "In these suspended hours of pain and anguish, the nation stands by their side."
The ceasefire's six-week first phase expires this weekend. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas would be released and an end to the war would be negotiated.
Talks on the second phase were supposed to begin the first week of this month.
The ceasefire, brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas' terrorist attack on southern Israel led to the massacre of more than 1,200 civilians. About 250 others were taken hostage.
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