An Israeli group representing families of hostages held by Palestine-based resistance group Hamas said the remains of all four hostages returned early Thursday, February, 27 have been identified.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that the bodies of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsachi Idan have been returned to Israel.
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.
At around the same time, 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.
Handover to complete ceasefire’s first phase
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.
The ceasefire’s six-week first phase expires this weekend. U.S. 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 February.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas’ 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, who don’t differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say over half the dead have been women and children.
The fighting also displaced an estimated 90 per cent of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system.
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