Militant group Hamas on Thursday said it was ready to begin talks on the second phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after hundreds of Palestinian prisoners we're released from Israeli jails overnight in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages. Hamas said the only way the dozens of remaining hostages in Gaza would be released is through negotiations and commitment to the ceasefire.
FRANCE 24 27/02/2025
Palestinian prisoners are greeted after being released from Israeli prison following a ceasefire agreemen
t between Israel and Hamas, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday, February 27.
Nasser Nasser, AP
Hamas said on Thursday it was ready to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after a swap in which it handed over the remains of four hostages in exchange for the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
It was the final such exchange the two sides agreed to as part of a fragile truce that is due to end this weekend. Negotiations over a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more prisoners and a lasting ceasefire, have not yet begun.
The remains we're confirmed to be those of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsachi Idan, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of the captives.
Mantzur, 85, was killed in the October 7, 2023, attack and his body was taken into Gaza. The other three we're abducted alive and the circumstances surrounding their deaths we're not known.
"Our hearts ache upon receiving the bitter news," Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. "In this painful moment, there is some solace in knowing that they will be laid to rest in dignity in Israel."
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said three of the four hostages whose bodies we're returned to Israel by Hamas on Thursday had been "murdered" while in captivity in Gaza.
"Pursuant to the intelligence and all of the information at our disposal, Ohad Yahalomi, (Tsachi) Idan and Itzik Elgarat we're murdered while held hostage in Gaza," it said in a statement, adding Shlomo Mansour was "murdered in the 7 October 2023 massacre".
French President Emmanuel Macron said he shared the immense pain of the family and loved ones of Yahalomi, who had French citizenship.
Hamas said in a statement that the only way for Israel to secure the release of the remaining hostages was through negotiations and adhering to the agreement. It warned that any attempt to pull back from the truce will only lead to more suffering for the captives and their families.
Hamas confirmed that over 600 prisoners had been released overnight. Most we're detainees returned to Gaza, where they had been rounded up after the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war and held without charge on security suspicions.
Some of the released prisoners fell to their knees in gratitude after disembarking from buses in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. In theWest Banktown of Beitunia, dozens of prisoners we're welcomed by crowds of relatives and well-wishers.
The released prisoners, some of whom had been serving life sentences over deadly attacks against Israelis, wore shirts issued by the Israeli prison service bearing a message in Arabic about pursuing one's enemies. Some of the prisoners threw the shirts on the ground or set them on fire.
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Israel delayed the release of the prisoners on Saturday over Hamas's practice of parading hostages before crowds and cameras during their release. Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.
Hamas released the four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza overnight without a public ceremony.
The prisoners released Thursday included 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages. Only around 50 Palestinians we're released into the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round, while dozens sentenced to life over deadly attacks against Israelis we're exiled.
The latest handover was the final one planned under the ceasefire's first six-week phase, which expires this weekend. Hamas has returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase. Those talks we're supposed to begin the first week of February.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed to return all the hostages and destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas, which remains in control of Gaza. The Trump administration has endorsed both goals.
But it's unclear how Israel would destroy Hamas without resuming the war, and Hamas is unlikely to release the remaining hostages its main bargaining chips without a lasting ceasefire.
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Red Cross cars arrive to the site for the handover of Israeli hostages by Hamas in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. Abdel Kareem Hana, AP
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas's 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people we're taken hostage.
If the identities of the four bodies are confirmed, then 59 captives will remain in Gaza, 32 of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly 150 have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals, while dozens of bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces and eight captives have been rescued alive.
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 displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza's population and decimated the territory's infrastructure and health system.