Jerusalem — Israeli and Hamas officials said Tuesday they had reached an agreement to exchange the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, keeping their fragile ceasefire intact for at least a few more days. Israel said the exchange would take place late Wednesday evening.
Israel has delayed the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during releases by Hamas since the ceasefire took effect on January 19. The terrorist group called the delay a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase were not possible until the prisoners are freed.
The deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires on Saturday. But late Tuesday, Hamas said an agreement had been reached to resolve the dispute during meetings in Cairo.
In a brief statement on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that an agreement had been reached by the mediators, adding that “our four fallen hostages will be returned tonight as part of Phase A, under an agreed procedure and without Hamas ceremonies.”
The breakthrough appeared to clear the way for the return of the bodies of four more dead hostages and hundreds of additional Israeli-held prisoners scheduled to be released under the ceasefire.
The prisoners previously slated for release “will be released simultaneously with the bodies of the Israeli prisoners who were agreed to be handed over,” along with the release of a new set of Palestinian prisoners, Hamas said in a statement.
So far Hamas has released living Israeli hostages and the bodies of dead captives in large public ceremonies during which the Israelis were paraded and forced to wave to large crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and U.N. officials, have said the ceremonies were humiliating to the hostages, and Israel last weekend delayed the scheduled prisoner release in protest.
The latest agreement would complete both sides’ obligations of the first phase of the ceasefire — during which Hamas is mean to return 33 hostages — including eight bodies — in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
It also could clear the way for a likely return visit to the region by the White House’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.
EVELYN HOCKSTEIN / POOL / AFP
He said at a Tuesday event in Washington for the American Jewish Committee that Israeli representatives were already on their way to engage in talks on the next phase of the ceasefire deal, and he repeated that he was also ready to head back to the region, according to the French news agency AFP.
“We’re making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team right now as we speak,” Witkoff said, adding that talks could resume in Cairo or Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Witkoff has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas are to be released and an end to the war is to be negotiated. The phase-two talks were supposed to begin weeks ago but never did.
The ceasefire, brokered by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of heavy fighting sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, which saw militants kill some 1,200 people in Israel and take 251 others as hostages.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, displaced an estimated 90% of the enclave’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system. The health mninistry does not differentiate between civilian and militant casualties, but it says over half the dead have been women and children.
