Egyptian and Palestinian media reported just before midnight on the night of Thursday that, according to an agreement, Hamas has handed over the remains of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in southern Gaza.
The bodies were then transported to Israel, and just before 01:00, Swedish time, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that they had received the coffins.
Shortly after the handover, a Red Cross bus with Palestinian prisoners was seen leaving Ofer prison in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The convoy later arrived in the city of Ramallah, where it was greeted by a sea of cheering people. Images from the scene show how the now released prisoners were celebrated and embraced by their relatives.
Netanyahu delayed release
Altogether, over 600 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released in exchange for the four dead Israelis. Among them are 445 Gazans who were imprisoned during the war and 50 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli prisons, according to BBC.
The release of the prisoners was originally planned for last weekend, but Netanyahu delayed it, calling Hamas ceremonies – where hostages and coffins were shown on stage to large crowds – ”humiliating” and demanding a more respectful handover.
Hamas threatened to stop talking to Israel if the agreed Palestinian prisoners were not released.
End of phase 1
A total of 33 living and dead hostages captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023 have been handed over during the first phase of the ceasefire, which lasts for six weeks. In exchange, Israel has released about 1,900 imprisoned Palestinians.
In addition to the exchange of hostages and prisoners, phase 1 has also seen Israeli forces withdraw from densely populated areas, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been able to return to northern Gaza, and hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid have been allowed to enter Gaza every day.
The plan for phase 2 is for the remaining approximately 60 people still held hostage by Hamas to be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and for Israeli forces to completely withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
But despite the first phase coming to an end this weekend, negotiations for phase 2 have not yet begun.
– Right now, we are in a situation where we do not know if there will be a phase 2, if phase 1 will be extended, or if the entire ceasefire will collapse, says SVT’s foreign reporter Gilda Hamidi-Nia.
