Just before midnight on Thursday, Egyptian and Palestinian media reported that Hamas has according to an agreement 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 o’clock, Swedish time, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah’s office confirmed that the coffins were received.
Shortly after the surrender, a Red Cross bus was seen with Palestinian prisoners to leave the prison of the occupied West Bank by Israel.
The convoy later arrived at the city of Ramallah where it was met by a sea of cheering people. Pictures from the site show how the now released prisoners were praised and embraced by their relatives.
Was shot up by Netanyahu
In total, over 600 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released in return against the four dead Israelis. Among them are 445 Gazabor who were imprisoned during the war and 50 Palestinians who serve a life sentence in Israeli prisons, the BBC reports.
The release of the prisoners was actually planned for last weekend, but was postponed by Netanyahu who called Hamas ceremonies – where hostages and coffins were shown on stage for large crowds – for “degrading” and demanded a more respectful handover.
Hamas threatened to stop talking with Israel unless the agreed Palestinian prisoners were released.
The end of phase 1
A total of 33 live and dead hostages, captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023, were handed over during the first phase of six weeks. In exchange, Israel has released approximately 1,900 imprisoned Palestinians.
In addition to the gap of hostage and prisoners, Phase 1 has also caused Israeli forces to retreat from densely populated areas, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been able to return to northern Gaza and hundreds of trucks with humanitarian aid have been allowed to drive into Gaza every day.
The plan for Phase 2 is that the remaining about 60 people who are still held hostage by Hamas are released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, and that Israeli forces withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip.
But even though the first phase expires this weekend, the negotiations on phase 2 have not begun.
-Right now we are in a position where we do not know if it will be a phase 2, whether phase 1 will be extended or if the entire ceasefire will collapse, says SVT’s foreign reporter Gilda Hamidi-Nia.