Israel-Hamas hostage update: Four bodies returned to Israel in final transfer of ceasefire agreement phase
The final hostage exchange of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement’s first phase has been completed, with the Red Cross delivering four bodies to Israel.
The latest exchange is being conducted without a public spectacle by Hamas after Israel threatened to delay releasing prisoner due to the public showing of hostage bodies at a recent exchange.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed the four bodies, believed to be Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgarat, 69, had been received.
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“The team from the National Centre for Forensic Medicine of the Ministry of Health is preparing this evening to assist in identifying the deceased hostages ... and then to identify the cause of death,” spokesperson Shira Solomon said.
A total of 602 Palestinian prisoners are set to be freed in the final release, with buses currently taking them from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The exchange comes just before the March 1 end date to the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Additional hostage are set to be released in the second and third phases, however, the status of an agreement on the remaining remaining phases is still unclear.
