Hamas hands over bodies of four hostages, Israel releases Palestinian prisoners

The Islamist group Hamas on Wednesday night handed over four bodies, presumably of Israeli hostages, to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip , without ceremony, as agreed with Israel, reported the Qatari channel Al Jazeera and confirmed Israeli security sources to the national press.

Meanwhile, a bus carrying Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank town of Ramallah at around 1 a.m. local time, coinciding with the unceremonious handover in Gaza.

Pending Israel's confirmation of the identities of the bodies found at the Kerem Shalom crossing, Hamas announced that the bodies it was to hand over tonight were those of Itzik Elgarat, 70; Ohad Yahalomi, 50; Shlomo Mansur, 85; and Tsahi Idan, 50.

The exchange was supervised by representatives of Egypt , the country that mediated the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, unlike on previous occasions, according to what Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, confirmed to EFE. Egyptian authorities will receive the bodies from the Red Cross and hand them over to the Israeli army.

Egyptian mediation in the transfer is intended to ensure that Israel receives the bodies and in turn releases the Palestinian prisoners, Naim confirmed.

Early on Sunday, after hours of delays, the Israeli government announced it was suspending the release of Palestinian prisoners scheduled for Saturday until Hamas guaranteed it would hand over the last bodies without ceremony.

After five days of negotiations, the parties agreed on the procedure carried out early this morning under Egyptian supervision.

Following the release of the four bodies of Israeli captives, Israel is expected to release tonight some 600 Palestinian prisoners who were to have been released last Saturday, corresponding to the six hostages released and four bodies of captives handed over by Hamas last week.

The delay in the release by Israel has come after protests by the Israeli government against the public ceremonies with propaganda messages that Hamas has been organizing for the releases and handovers of the bodies, something that did not happen tonight when these four bodies were handed over to the Red Cross, which took place without publicity.

The Red Cross bus carrying the first freed Palestinian prisoners left Israel's Ofer prison and took about half an hour to reach Ramallah's Cultural Palace , where dozens of people were waiting for the prisoners, who got out of the vehicle dressed in green tracksuits and Palestinian scarves around their necks, according to a live broadcast by Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Wajdi Ahmad, an official from Ramallah's governorate who coordinates the release of prisoners in this town, told EFE that 32 prisoners were transferred to this town, some of whom were carried on the shoulders of the crowd upon their arrival in Ramallah.