Hamas hands over the bodies of the last hostages included in the first phase of the ceasefire with Israel
This Saturday will see the end of the 42-day truce between Israel and Hamas. Over the last few weeks, the terrorist group has released 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from several positions in Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.
This first phase of the ceasefire agreement has concluded with the handover of the bodies of the Israeli hostages Tsachi Idan (50), Itzhak Elgarat (69), Ohad Yahalomi (50) and Shlomo Mantzur (86), kidnapped during the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.
Our hearts ache upon receiving the bitter news of the identification of Ohad Yahalomi, Tsachi Idan, Itzik Elgarat, and Shlomo Mantzur, whose bodies were returned overnight from captivity at the hands of Hamas terrorists.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) February 27, 2025
In this painful moment, there is some solace in knowing… pic.twitter.com/fE6khe7kS0
The transfer, the last of this first phase, began late on Wednesday night and was carried out with ‘Egyptian mediation’, according to the Israeli authorities.
In exchange, Israel has released 620 Palestinian prisoners. According to Ynet, 71 were sentenced to life imprisonment, while another 60 received long prison sentences. A total of 97 prisoners were deported outside the Palestinian territories, five in East Jerusalem, 37 in the West Bank and 457 in the Gaza Strip. In addition, 105 prisoners were released with 24 hours of medication and five were transferred by ambulance.
Initially, it had been planned that these prisoners would be released last Saturday in exchange for six hostages alive. However, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered that their release be delayed, demanding an end to Hamas's ‘humiliating’ ceremonies.
During this first phase of the ceasefire, the terrorist group has paraded the Israeli hostages in front of crowds and forced them to participate in propaganda events that have provoked much criticism. Hamas even organised a macabre ceremony to hand over the bodies of Oded Lifshitz, 81, Shiri Bibas and her young children, Ariel and Kfir, murdered by Palestinian terrorists during their captivity.
"Shiri, people tell me they'll always be by my side, but they're not you. So please stay close to me and don't go far.
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) February 26, 2025
Shiri, this is the closest I've been to you since October 7th, and I can't kiss or hug you, and it's breaking me."
- Yarden Bibas eulogizes his wife Shiri and… pic.twitter.com/y1Wrfe5SN3
As part of its psychological warfare, Hamas handed over the body of a Gazan woman instead of Shiri Bibas, who was finally buried yesterday together with her children in the Nir Oz kibbutz, from where they were abducted on 7 October 2023.
With regard to the next phase of the agreement, Hamas has already stated that it is willing to begin negotiations for the next steps of the truce, but warned that the only way to free the remaining hostages would be through a commitment to the agreement.
Despite these statements, the terrorist group has violated the truce on several occasions. In addition to the release of the hostages, during the ceasefire Hamas launched several missiles into Israel, although all of them fell inside Gaza.
As Yarden buried his family, Hamas fired another rocket at Israel—but once again, it failed and fell in Gaza.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) February 26, 2025
Murdering two little boys and their mother wasn’t enough. They tried to disrupt the funeral too. pic.twitter.com/hCFVtyl2bd
On the other hand, the White House envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said that Israeli representatives were already on their way to participate in talks on the next phase of the ceasefire agreement. These negotiations should have started several weeks ago, as initially agreed.
During this second phase, all Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas would be released and an end to the war would be negotiated. There are still 59 hostages in Gaza, 35 of them dead.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of intense fighting following the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped another 251.
With the aim of rescuing the hostages and putting an end to the Islamist organisation, Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza which, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health - run by Hamas - has left more than 48,000 dead. The Israeli attacks and the fighting have also destroyed much of the infrastructure of the Palestinian enclave.
According to United Nations figures, the conflict has damaged or destroyed around 60% of buildings, including schools and hospitals, and approximately 92% of homes in Gaza.
