Hamas to turn over bodies of 4 Israeli hostages in exchange for release
of hundreds of prisoners
 [February 26, 2025]
By SAMY MAGDY and MELANIE LIDMAN
CAIRO (AP) — Hamas will return the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages
on Thursday in exchange for Israel's release of hundreds of Palestinian
prisoners, the group said, just days before the first phase of the
ceasefire between the warring parties was to expire.
Israel has delayed the release of about 600 Palestinian prisoners since
Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages
during their release by Hamas.
The militant group has said that the delay is a “serious violation” of
their ceasefire and that talks on a second phase aren't possible until
the Palestinians are freed.
Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The Associated Press on
Wednesday that Hamas would hand over the bodies of four Israelis the
next day.
In exchange, Israel would release the Palestinian prisoners, as well as
an unspecified number of women and minors detained since the militant
group's Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the conflict.
An Israeli official confirmed that the bodies of four hostages were
expected to be turned over but provided no further details. The official
spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak
with the media.
Israel and Hamas had already said on Tuesday that an agreement had been
reached to return the bodies of the hostages, but no date had been
announced.
Hamas has released hostages, and the bodies of four dead hostages, 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.
There will be no public ceremony when the four bodies in the latest
exchange are returned to Israel in the early hours of Thursday,
according to a senior Hamas official who wasn't authorized to speak with
the media, so spoke on condition of anonymity.
The deadlock over the exchange had threatened to collapse the ceasefire
when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires this weekend.
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Israelis gather on the side of a road where the funeral convoy
carrying the coffins of slain hostages Shiri Bibas and her two
children, Ariel and Kfir, will pass by near Kibbutz Yad Mordechai,
Israel, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. The mother and her two children
were abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and their remains were
returned from Gaza to Israel last week as part of a ceasefire
agreement with Hamas. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The latest agreement would complete both sides’ obligations of the
first phase of the ceasefire — during which Hamas is returning 33
hostages, including eight bodies — in exchange for nearly 2,000
Palestinian prisoners.
It also could clear the way for an expected visit this week by the
White House’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the region.
Witkoff has said that 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 2 talks were supposed to begin weeks ago, but never did.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended
15 months of heavy fighting 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, displaced
an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s
infrastructure and health system. The Hamas-run Health Ministry
doesn't differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but it
says that over half of the dead have been women and children.
___
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. David Rising contributed to
this report from Bangkok.
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