Hamas delivers four bodies

Hamas has delivered what they say are the bodies of four Israeli hostages of Gaza, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel is testing DNA samples to confirm that they are the remains of Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgrat, 69, all of which were taken by Hamas in the attacks of October 7, 2023.

Early on Thursday, Israel began launching more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, with dozens returned to the occupied West Bank and Gaza, where they were found by jubilant crowds.

It will be the final exchange of the first phase of the Alto El Fuego agreement, which will end on Saturday.

Israel has not yet confirmed the results of DNA tests carried out in the four bodies returned as part of the exchange.

The initial evidence was expected to occur near the Israel-Gaza border, and Israeli media reported that they were transported to a forensic laboratory in Tel Aviv.

It occurs after Hamas delivered the body of a Palestinian woman from Gaza to Israel instead of the body of Bibas Shiri Israelí last Thursday, causing fury in Israel. Hamas said it was an erroneous identification and then delivered a body to Israel confirmed that it was Bibas.

Hamas delivered the bodies on private, without a public ceremony, as Israel demanded, unlike the previous exchanges.

Israel accused Hamas of “humiliating” transfer ceremonies, and delayed the release of prisoners from last weekend due to what he said was the cruel treatment of hostages in transfers.

Before Wednesday’s releases, a Hamas official told the AFP news agency that the return of the four agencies would be carried out “without public presence to prevent the occupation from finding any pretext for delay or obstruction.”

The photos published by the Reuters news agency showed a bus that carried what is believed to be Palestinian prisoners of the offer prison in the West Bank on Wednesday night.

A bus that carries Palestinian prisoners then reached a control point at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, where a large crowd has gathered to celebrate its release.

Later, dozens of Palestinian prisoners were seen leaving a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza.

Palestinian prisoners who are expected to be released include more than 400 gazans arrested by Israeli forces during the war and 50 prisoners who fulfill life imprisonment in Israeli prisons.

Together with the prison of offer in the West Bank, Israel said previously that the prisoners would also be released from Ketziot prison in southern Israel.

The Prison Media Office led by Hamas said that a hospital in Gaza was preparing to receive the released Palestinians.

Tsachi Idan, 50, was taken by Hamas armed men from his home in Nahal Oz. His eldest son, Maayan, who had just turned 18, was shot dead in the attack. In August, Tsachi’s wife, Gali, told US TV that the last time she had heard of her husband was a report of the hostages published in November 2023.

In a statement through the forum of Families and Families of Hosgueros, Tsachi’s family said it is “with great sadness” that they have learned “our beloved Tsachi is no longer alive and that his body will be returned to Israel during the night.”

Itzik Elgrat, 69, was kidnapped by Nir Oz and, according to the reports, shot him in his hand during the attack. His phone was tracked to Gaza after the attack.

Ohad Yahalomi, 50, was kidnapped by Nir Oz, along with his 12 -year -old son, Eitan, who was released during the top of November.

In February 2025, the FDI said he had informed the family of Shlomo Mansour, born in Iraq, 86, that Hamas killed him on October 7, 2023 and his body taken to Gaza.

The exchange is the last before the current phase of the high fire agreement ends on Saturday.

It is not clear if the truce will be extended or the progress to phase two, which would see the liberation of all living hostages in Gaza in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners.

The negotiations for phase two had to start during phase one, but it is believed that they have not yet begun.

The launch of hostages on Wednesday follows Days of between Wse between Israel and Hamas, which was resolved by mediators on Tuesday.

Israel was supposed to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, in exchange for the six live hostages and four dead delivered by Hamas last week.

But Israel delayed the launchIn protest what he said was Hamas’ cruel treatment to Israeli hostages while they were given.

Also on Wednesday, thousands of Israelis aligned on the roads of southern Israel For the funeral procession of three hostages that were killed in captivity In Gaza – Shiri Bibas and their two children, Ariel and Kfir.

The Israeli television channels carried a live food of the scenes and, after a private burial, the public praise of the relatives, with crowds gathering to see on large screens in the Plaza de los Haranes of Tel Aviv.

Kfir, nine months old, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was the youngest of the 251 hostages taken in the attacks led by Hamas on October 7, 2023. His brother, Ariel, was only four years old.

Shiri Bibas and his children were buried in a single coffin next to the final place of their parents, Yossi and Margit Silberman, who lived in Kibbutz himself and were killed there on October 7.

In total, some 1,200 people were killed and 251 people took hostages. He turned on the most deadly war in Gaza’s history, in which more than 48,000 people have been killed, according to the Ministry of Health led by Hamas.