Hamas hands over bodies of 4 hostages as Israel releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners

Jerusalem — Hamas handed over four dead hostages 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 will end.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Hamas had given the bodies to the Red Cross, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog later said on X that all four had been identified.

At around the same time the bodies were received on Wednesday, a Red Cross convoy carrying dozens of released Palestinian prisoners left Israel’s Ofer prison. Crowds of cheering families, friends and supporters of Palestinian prisoners were gathered in Beitunia jostling for a glimpse of the bus that was on its way.

Hamas said Thursday it was ready to negotiate the the next phase of the ceasefire, adding in a statement that the “only way” for Israel to secure the release of the remaining hostages was through negotiations and adhering to the agreement. It warned that any attempt to pull back from the truce “will only lead to more suffering” for the captives and their families.

Israel had delayed the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas. The terrorist group has called the delay a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase aren’t possible until the Palestinians are freed. The deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires on Saturday. But late Tuesday, Hamas said an agreement had been reached to resolve the dispute during meetings in Cairo.

Netanyahu’s office had said Wednesday that the release of the bodies would be carried out without a ceremony, as opposed to past Hamas releases 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.

Among those leaving Israel early Thursday were hundreds of detainees arrested from Gaza, held on suspicion of militancy after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, without charge for months. They include 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman who were all arrested after the Hamas attack, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages.  

Among those released was Nael Barghouti, 67, who spent 45 years in Israeli jails, more than any other Palestinian. He was first arrested in 1978 for killing an Israeli bus driver, but was released in a prisoner exchange in October 2011. He was then rearrested in 2014 and accused of violating his release terms. Under the exchange agreement, freed prisoners who were convicted of killing Israelis must be deported, leaving Barghouti unable to return to his home in the West Bank. It was not immediately clear on Thursday where Barghouti had been sent.

Only around 50 Palestinians were being released into the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round. Dozens sentenced to life over deadly attacks against Israelis will be exiled out of the Palestinian territories, taken to Egypt at least temporarily until other countries accept them.

The handover will complete both sides’ obligations under the ceasefire’s first phase, during which Hamas returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.  

In a brief statement earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu’s office confirmed that an agreement had been reached by the mediators, adding that “our four fallen hostages will be returned tonight as part of Phase A, under an agreed procedure and without Hamas ceremonies.”

Prior to Thursday, Hamas had released living Israeli hostages and the bodies of dead captives in large public ceremonies during which the Israelis were paraded and forced to wave to large crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and U.N. officials, have said the ceremonies were humiliating to the hostages, and Israel last weekend delayed the scheduled prisoner release in protest.

The latest agreement would complete both sides’ obligations of the first phase of the ceasefire — during which Hamas is meant to return 33 hostages — including eight bodies — in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

It also could clear the way for a likely return visit to the region by the White House’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

He said at a Tuesday event in Washington for the American Jewish Committee that Israeli representatives were already on their way to engage in talks on the next phase of the ceasefire deal, and he repeated that he was also ready to head back to the region, according to the French news agency AFP.

“We’re making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team right now as we speak,” Witkoff said, adding that talks could resume in Cairo or Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Witkoff has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas are to be released and an end to the war is to be negotiated. The phase-two talks were supposed to begin weeks ago but never did.

The ceasefire, brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of heavy fighting sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, which saw militants kill some 1,200 people in Israel and take 251 others as hostages.

Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, displaced an estimated 90% of the enclave’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system. The health ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant casualties, but it says over half the dead have been women and children.