Hamas hands over dead hostages, Palestinians exit jail

An Israeli security official says Hamas has handed to the Red Cross the bodies of four Israelis who were held hostage in Gaza.

Hamas has handed over four dead hostages to the Red Cross in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, days before the first phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was to end.

An Israeli security official confirmed that Hamas handed the hostages’ bodies to the Red Cross early on Thursday.

Unlike previous handovers, which featured Hamas propaganda ceremony events, the remains were to be quietly transferred to Israel via Egypt.

More than 600 imprisoned Palestinian terrorists will be released after pathologists confirm the identities of the bodies.

Israeli officials are not confirming who is to be released until the bodies are identified, but these four are the last people on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire.

Shlomo Mansour, a native of Iraq, was a survivor of Baghdad’s 1941 “Farhud,” a two-day pogrom in which 180 Jews were killed, 900 homes destroyed and Jewish property looted. A carpenter and craftsman, Mansour was abducted from his home on Kibbutz Kissufim on the morning of October 7.On Feb. 11, 2025, the Israel Defense Forces declared Mansor dead based on intelligence. Mansour is survived by his wife of 60 years, children and grandchildren.

Ohad Yahalomi, a French-Israeli national, was shot during a gun battle with terrorists at Kibbutz Nir Oz. He had been sitting outside the safe room protecting his family when the door handle didn’t close properly. Also taken captive was his 12-year-old son, Eitan, who was freed in November 2023. His partner Bat Sheva and two younger daughters managed to escape captivity right before arriving to the border. Ohad was last seen in a Hamas propaganda video released in January 2024.

Itzik Elgarat, a 69-year-old Israeli-Danish national, was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. The last sign of life came from hostages freed in November   who told the family they saw Elgarat being treated in the Nasser Hospital.

Tsahi Idan, of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was taken captive after terrorists shot and killed his 18-year-old daughter in front of him. Idan, a sports enthusiast who worked in high tech, is survived by his wife and two children.

The families of Idan, Elgarat and Mansour have confirmed that they have being notified by the Israeli officials that the remains of their loved ones are expected to be returned.

To expedite the exchange, pathologists will try to immediately confirm the identities of the bodies at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, a process  that could take several hours. Once indentified, Israeli authorities will begin the process of releasing 602 imprisoned Palestinian terrorists. The bodies will then be taken to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine to determine the cause of death.

The handover is taking place hours after the country said farewell to Shiri Bibas and her sons in an emotional funeral.

The completion of Wednesday night’s exchange will mark the conclusion of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. The fate of the remaining 59 hostages is to be determined by negotiations. Critics say the phased approach condemns them to open-ended captivity and undermines Israel’s war gains.

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 59 remaining hostages, 32 are believed to be dead.

Israel said the caskets were delivered with the help of Egyptian mediators through an Israeli crossing and an identification process had begun.

At around the same time, a Red Cross convoy carrying several dozen released Palestinian prisoners left Israel’s Ofer prison.

Crowds of cheering families, friends and supporters gathered in the West Bank town of Beitunia, jostling for a glimpse of the bus as it arrived.

Well-wishers greeted the released prisoners, hugging them and snapping photos. One released man made a victory sign as he was carried on the shoulders of supporters, with the crowd chanted “God is Great.”

Hundreds of other prisoners were to be sent to Gaza, many of them detained after the October 7, 2023, attacks and never charged.

Israel had delayed the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas.

The militant group has called the delay a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase aren’t possible until the Palestinians are freed.

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the latest release of hostages’ bodies would be carried out without ceremony, as opposed to past Hamas releases with stage-managed events in front of crowds.

Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.

Among those scheduled to leave Israel early on Thursday were hundreds of detainees arrested from Gaza, held on suspicion of terrorism after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack, without charge for months.

They include 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman who were all arrested after the Hamas attack, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages.

Only around 50 Palestinians were released into the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round. Dozens sentenced to life over deadly attacks against Israelis will be exiled out of the Palestinian territories, taken to Egypt at least temporarily until other countries accept them.

The handover would complete both sides’ obligations under the ceasefire’s first phase, during which Hamas returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners.

The ceasefire’s six-week first phase expires this weekend. US 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.

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 1200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.

By: Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Josef Federman/AP and TPS-IL