Hamas Hands Over Four Bodies in Last Hostage Release of First Cease-Fire Phase

The exchange marks the final swap in the first stage of a truce that began in January and expires this weekend

- Anat Peled & Summer Said

Hamas handed over what it said were the last four dead hostages included in the first phase of a cease-fire agreement with Israel, mediators said, as they race to extend the fragile truce.

The bodies were transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross under supervision of Egyptian officials early Thursday local time, mediators said. Officials involved in the talks expected the bodies of Ohad Yahalomi, Shlomo Mantzur, Itzik Elgarat and Tzachi Idan. All four men were kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Israel is set to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners whose release it had held up since last Saturday because it said Hamas was holding humiliating hostage-release ceremonies.