Hamas hands over 4 bodies of Israeli hostages to Red Cross: Reports

Hamas has handed over four bodies of Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza, an Israeli security source told news agency Reuters early on Thursday.

At around the same time of transferring the bodies, a Red Cross convoy carrying dozens of released Palestinian prisoners left Israel’s Ofer prison, reports said.

A formal announcement on the body transfer is pending. Hamas had previously identified the bodies as those of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi and Shlomo Mantzur, all of whom were abducted during the October 7, 2023 attack.

This handover completes both sides’ obligations under the ceasefire’s first phase, during which Hamas is returning 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The current six-week first phase of the ceasefire expires this weekend.

Israel has 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 this month, Hamas handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her sons, 9-month-old Kfir and 4-year-old Ariel. The transfer was carried out after a public display of the bodies in Gaza’s Khan Younis, an event that drew outrage in Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said earlier that the transfer of bodies would be carried out without a 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.

Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners is expected to include an unspecified number of women and teenagers detained since the militant group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

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