Hamas to hand over four hostages' bodies in exchange for 600 Palestinian prisoners

Hamas will return the bodies of four hostages to Israel on Thursday in exchange for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, the Palestinian radical group's spokesman, Abdul Latif al-Qanou, announced on Wednesday.

The announcement was made by al-Qanou to the US news agency AP just days before the end of the first phase of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, which has been in effect since January 19.

Israel has delayed the release of about 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of Israeli hostages when they are released by Hamas.

The radical group that rules Gaza said the delay in releasing the Palestinians constituted a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase of the deal would not be possible until the Palestinians were freed.

Hamas sources told the French news agency AFP that the mediating countries “informed Hamas that the process of exchanging hostages and prisoners should begin on Thursday.”

“Under the terms of the deal, Hamas and other resistance factions will hand over four Israeli bodies and, in return, Israel will release more than 600” Palestinians held by Israel, the group’s sources said.

The ceasefire halted 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, which was the target of an Israeli offensive in retaliation for a Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed 1,000 people and kidnapped them. The Israeli retaliation has left more than 48,300 people dead in Gaza, according to Hamas.