Four coffins said to contain the remains of Israeli hostages have been received by Israel, as Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released in Gaza and the occupied West Bank in an overnight exchange as part of the fragile ceasefire deal.
The exchange marks the start of the final swap in the 42-day truce between Israel and Hamas, which is set to expire this weekend unless an agreement is struck to extend it.
Hamas on Thursday signaled its readiness to begin talks on the second phase of the deal after the Palestinian militant group said it would hand over the bodies of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi, and Shlomo Mantzur to Israel. All four were taken captive in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed their deaths and said it shared in the “heavy grief” of their loved ones.
The latest transfer was held in private after the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said an agreement had been reached for the bodies to be returned “in an agreed-upon procedure and without Hamas ceremonies.”
Israel is expected to release a total of 642 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Media Office. Among them are detainees, including women and children, who have been held without charge, prisoners who were serving life sentences and long sentences, as well as the longest-serving Palestinian political prisoner.
The handover had been in doubt since Saturday when Israel failed to release 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in protest at what it said were “humiliating ceremonies” conducted by Hamas during previous hostage releases.
In the early hours of Thursday, the Red Cross said it handed over the four coffins to the Israeli military at the Kerem Shalom crossing through Egyptian mediators, and the process of identifying the bodies was being carried out in Israeli territory.
Red Cross buses carrying hundreds of Palestinians detained by Israel arrived in Gaza early Thursday. Wearing light gray uniforms, the Palestinians could be seen disembarking the buses outside the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis to reunite with their families. Crowds of journalists and residents watched as what sounded like celebratory gunfire could be heard in the background.
Ninety-seven released Palestinian prisoners also arrived in Egypt where they will be exiled in Cairo, Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi confirmed to CNN.
Hostages’ families mourn.
After crossing into southern Israel, the four coffins containing the bodies of Israeli hostages were transported to the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv for identification, police said early Thursday.
Images released by police showed a convoy of emergency vehicles traveling down a dark highway as a crowd of people waved Israeli flags.
The Israeli military has previously said that Mantzur, who at 85 was the oldest hostage taken on October 7, 2023, was killed during the Hamas-led attack and his body was held in Gaza.
Mantzur was described by his Kibbutz Kissufim as “the heart of our community – everyone’s grandfather.” In a statement earlier this month, Mantzur’s family mourned his death and called him “a man with a heart of gold, golden hands, and a smile worth gold.”
Yahalomi, a dual French-Israeli citizen, was shot by militants as he tried to protect his wife and three children, who were taken by gunmen during the Hamas-led attack. His wife Bat-Sheva and their two daughters eventually escaped, while their son Eitan, was taken hostage and released in November 2023, as part of a temporary ceasefire.
“We are heartbroken and still struggling to believe,” his family said in a statement.
Elgarat, who was kidnapped at the age of 68, “came to Nir Oz following his brother and was a beloved figure in the community,” the kibbutz wrote in a statement, calling him “an integral part of the social landscape” of the community.
Idan’s family said in a statement Thursday that “the uncertainty and relentless turmoil have come to an end.” Through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the family had previously said it had “received several signs of life” since Idan was kidnapped and had expected him to be released as part of the first ceasefire and hostage deal. “Tsachi will be laid to rest next to the grave of his beloved daughter, Maayan, who was murdered on October 7, while trying to assist her father and protect the bomb shelter door,” the family said.
If the four bodies are formally identified as belonging to the hostages, Hamas and its allies now hold 59 captives according to Israeli figures. Of those, more than half are thought to be dead by the Israeli government. One, Hadar Goldin, has been held, dead, since before October 7, 2023.
The first phase of the deal has been marked by accusations of violations from both sides, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing pressure from far-right members of his cabinet to return to war. Hamas on Thursday warned that any attempts by Israel “to backtrack on the agreement” will “only lead to more suffering” for the remaining hostages and their families.
Hugs and cheers for released detainees
In Gaza, CNN footage from the European Hospital in Khan Younis showed three prisoners arrive in ambulances to the intensive care unit, where they were greeted by loved ones.
One prisoner, who was embraced by his son, was provided with oxygen, while another appeared very weak.
Others who disembarked from Red Cross buses also appeared weak and thin, with some having difficulty walking.
One freed man was welcomed by his wife and children, who cried as they hugged him tightly. “I was so afraid. Every day I prayed that they were doing well,” he said.
An elderly man could be seen hugging his brother tightly. “Take me home, I beg you. Take me home. I want to see my children,” he said.
In Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, scenes of jubilation greeted a group of Palestinian prisoners who were seen disembarking from a Red Cross vehicle in the early hours of Thursday.
The Palestinian Prisoners Media Office said earlier that 43 prisoners were expected to be released into the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Footage shows emotional reunions, including a daughter hugging and kissing her released father, and a man tightly holding his child.
“We have been out taken out of suffering as if we have been dug out from our own graves. No prisoner has had the experience of having their own release delayed twice,” released prisoner Yaha Shrida told Reuters.
Among the 642 Palestinian prisoners and detainees expected to be released, just under 500 are expected to be sent back to Gaza, including 445 who have been detained in the enclave since the war began in October 2023 and have been held without charge, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
The detainees include 44 children and two women.
Advocates for Palestinians prisoners and detainees have expressed repeated concerns about the delay in their release, and Israel’s treatment of those held in detention. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society says 69 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli detention since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, of whom 38 were detained in Gaza.
The group released in Ramallah and East Jerusalem early Thursday are among 151 prisoners who were serving life sentences and long sentences, according to Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office. Ninety-seven of them will be sent into exile while the remaining 11 are from Gaza, where they will be sent back, and were detained prior to October 7, 2023.
Among the Palestinians due for release is Nael Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian political prisoner. Nael has been in and out of prison since he was first arrested in 1978 and accused of engaging in attacks against the Israeli military.
He was released in a 2011 Israel-Hamas deal, which saw 1,100 Palestinians exchanged for one Israeli soldier held by Hamas for five years, Gilad Shalit. Nael was re-arrested by Israeli forces in 2014 for “Hamas membership,” according to Israeli media, and has since been serving a life sentence.
Also among them is Bilal Abu Ghanem, who is serving concurrent life sentences for the murder of three Israelis on a Jerusalem bus in 2015.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman, Dana Karni and Lucas Lilieholm, and journalist Abdallah Al Attar contributed reporting.
