Hamas agrees to proceed with releasing four dead hostages on Thursday
Egyptian officials say militants won’t hold ceremony like those that angered Israel.
Hamas has agreed to proceed with handing over four more dead hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Egyptian officials said, potentially resolving a dispute that threatened to derail the current cease-fire in Gaza.
Hamas will hand over the bodies to Egyptian officials on Thursday without any ceremonies inside Gaza, the officials said. They said Israel will release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners that it had held off from freeing on Saturday, and will release another batch of Palestinian prisoners once it confirms that the four bodies turned over Thursday belong to hostages.
There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military.
The first stage of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is due to expire this weekend. Israel and the U.S. are pushing Hamas for an extension of the first stage, putting off talks over a second stage.
That second stage would focus on negotiations over a permanent end to the war and the release of the remaining living hostages. But disagreements remain between the two sides.
The four bodies that officials involved in the talks expect to be handed over on Thursday belong to Shlomo Mantzur, Ohad Yahalomi, Tzachi Idan and Itzik Elgarat. The men were kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel that led to the war in Gaza. The release of the Palestinian prisoners will be carried out simultaneously, according to the Egyptian officials. Hamas confirmed the agreement.
Israel had accused Hamas of holding humiliating hostage-release ceremonies during the cease-fire, which started in January, especially one held for four dead bodies that were handed over last week. That release included members of the Bibas family, which had become a symbol of the brutality of the Oct. 7 attacks.
One of the bodies Hamas claimed was hostage Shiri Bibas turned out to be someone else in forensic testing, further angering Israel. A day later, Hamas handed over the body of Shiri Bibas and Israel officially confirmed her identity.
In the wake of those events, Israel said it was temporarily withholding the release of any Palestinian prisoners, which threw the cease-fire into question.
Shlomo Mantzur was taken at the age of 85 from kibbutz Kissufim. The Israeli military said earlier this month that Mantzur was killed on the day of the attack and that his body was kidnapped to Gaza.
The other three hostages weren’t previously confirmed dead by Israel. Ohad Yahalomi, 49, a French-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz after attempting to fight off militants and protect his family in their safe room. His son, Eitan Yahalomi, was freed in a November 2023 cease-fire deal that saw the release of female and child hostages. Tzachi Idan, 49, was taken from his home in kibbutz Nahal Oz after militants killed his 13-year-old daughter. Itzik Elgarat, 68, was taken from his home in kibbutz Nir Oz. Hamas previously claimed Elgarat was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it struck military targets in southern Syria early Wednesday, local time, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel wouldn’t allow Syria’s new government to station its forces in southern Syria.
“The presence of military forces and assets in the southern part of Syria pose a threat to the citizens of Israel,” the military said. It said that it had targeted command centers and weapons.
Ongoing Israeli strikes could pose a challenge for Syria’s new government, which is led by Islamists who in December ousted former President Bashar al-Assad. The new government is working to consolidate power in part by forming a new military.
The Wall Street Journal
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