The Qassam Brigades announced that the remains of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi, and Shlomo Mantzur were handed over.
An Israeli security official has confirmed that Hamas has transferred four bodies to the Red Cross.
Israel is now expected to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the coming hours as part of the final phase of hostage and prisoner exchanges under the first stage of the ceasefire deal agreed upon last month.
The official truce is set to end on Saturday, but it remains unclear if discussions to extend the ceasefire have begun.
The identities of the bodies handed over by Hamas early Thursday local time have not yet been confirmed. Israel has announced that a team of forensic experts from the National Center for Forensic Medicine will be dispatched to the Kerem Shalom border crossing to assist with identification.
An Israeli official previously said that no Palestinian prisoners would be released until the hostages’ bodies were positively identified. This follows a previous incident in which Hamas mistakenly handed over the body of an unidentified Gazan woman instead of hostage Shiri Bibas. Hamas later acknowledged the error and returned Bibas' body.
If confirmed to be the bodies belonging to hostages, the latest release would mean that Hamas and its allies are now holding 59 captives, according to Israeli figures. The Israeli government believes more than half of those remaining are deceased. One of the hostages, Hadar Goldin, has been held dead since before October 7, 2023.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, announced that the remains of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi, and Shlomo Mantzur would be handed over.
The Israeli military previously stated that Shlomo Mantzur, who at 85 was the oldest hostage taken on October 7, 2023, was killed during the Hamas-led attack, and his body had been held in Gaza. However, the military had not confirmed the deaths of the other three hostages.
The latest transfer took place privately after the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced that an agreement had been reached for the four bodies to be returned “through an agreed-upon procedure and without Hamas ceremonies.”
Doubts over the handover emerged on Saturday when Israel refused to release 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, citing what it described as “humiliating ceremonies” conducted by Hamas during previous releases.
Earlier on Saturday, Hamas had released six Israeli hostages from Gaza in two public ceremonies and one private transfer. This marked the final return of living hostages under the first phase of the ceasefire deal that began last month.
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At least eleven Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the northern and southern Gaza Strip on Sunday (15 February), Palestinian civil defence and health officials said, in what Israel's military called a response to Hamas ceasefire violations.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 15th of February, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir said on Friday (13 February) that Israel remains committed to the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the disarmament of Hamas, calling for intensified operations to destroy tunnel networks and control access along the ceasefire line.
Israel has joined U.S. President Donald Trump's 'Board of Peace' initiative, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday (11 February) during his visit to Washington where he met Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Pakistan said it carried out cross-border strikes on militant targets inside Afghanistan after blaming a series of recent suicide bombings, including attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, on fighters it said were operating from Afghan territory.
Italy said a fond farewell to the Winter Olympics on Sunday with an open-air ceremony in the ancient Verona Arena that celebrated art and sporting achievement at a Games lauded as a model for how to stage such events.
The United States and Iran will hold a new round of nuclear negotiations in Geneva on Thursday as part of renewed diplomatic efforts to reach a potential agreement, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi announced on Sunday.
Islamic State claimed two attacks on Syrian army personnel on Saturday (22 February), saying they marked the start of a new phase of operations against the country’s leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Further Iran-U.S. nuclear talks are scheduled in Geneva on Thursday (26 February) as diplomacy resumes over Tehran’s nuclear programme following earlier mediation efforts. But will the talks move Iran-U.S. negotiations closer to a deal, and what should be expected from the meeting?
Four members of Syria’s Internal Security Forces were killed on Monday in an attack by the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group targeting a checkpoint west of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, the Interior Ministry said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said nuclear talks with United States have “yielded encouraging signals” stressing Iran’s readiness “for any potential scenario”.
Central Asia’s population could reach 96 million by 2040, according to the head of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), highlighting both the region’s economic potential and the growing strain on infrastructure, trade routes and long-term development models.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Monday discussed transport links, infrastructure projects and broader economic cooperation with a high-level Iranian delegation led by Roads and Urban Development Minister Farzaneh Sadegh.
Iran has signed a secret €500 million arms deal with Russia to rebuild air defences, weakened during last year’s war with Israel, the Financial Times has reported. The agreement, signed in December in Moscow, will see Russia deliver 500 Verba launch units and 2,500 9M336 missiles over three years.
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