The militant Palestinian group Hamas on Thursday returned to Israel the bodies of four hostages taken during its deadly October 7, 2023 attack in the south of the country.
The return of the bodies, made in exchange for the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, is the final swap of the first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that took effect on January 19.
The deal foresaw that Hamas should hand over 33 hostages, including eight dead bodies, by March 1, while Israel was to free altogether 1,900 Palestinians. Five Thai nationals who had also been taken hostage in the 2023 attack while working in Israel were also handed back to Israel under a separate deal.
Altogether 251 hostages were taken by Hamas-led militants during the attack, which triggered the current conflict in Gaza. Many have been freed under previous agreements, rescued or had their bodies recovered by Israel. More than 50 remain in Gaza, with about half of them believed to be dead.
A Hamas source said the Palestinian prisoners released overnight included 445 men and 24 women and minors detained in Gaza, as well as 151 prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis.
The release had been postponed by Israel over what it called violations by Hamas.
Four dead Gaza hostages identified
The hostages' bodies were handed to the Red Cross early on Thursday and were brought back to Israel for forensic testing.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has confirmed the identities of the people whose bodies were returned and said that three of the four were murdered in captivity and one on the day of the attack.
Hamas has previously denied killing its hostages and said some had died during Israeli bombardments.
The dead hostages were named as French-Israeli national Ohad Yahalomi, Israeli national Tsachi Idan, Danish-Israeli Itzik Elgarat and Iraq-born Israeli Shlomo Mansour.
Two of the four, who were abducted from the kibbutzes where they lived, had been listed as alive until Wednesday.
Further Gaza ceasefire talks still pending
A second phase of the ceasefire has yet to be negotiated.
Hamas has voiced its readiness to begin talks, issuing a statement on Thursday stating that it renewed its "full commitment to the ceasefire agreement."
The Israeli government, for its part, is under huge public pressure to continue the ceasefire to allow the return of the remaining hostages, but some right-wing members are urging a return to fighting to reach Israel's declared aim of eradicating Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by several countries.
However, in a sign that Israel is intending to continue negotiations, Netanyahu's office issued a statement on Thursday saying he had instructed his negotiation delegation to head for Cairo to resume the Gaza ceasefire talks.
Palestinian authorities say at least 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military response to the October 7, 2023 attack. The UN says around 90% of the Gaza Strip's 2 million residents have been displaced, some multiple times.
