Israel releases Palestinian prisoners after Hamas hands over four hostages' bodies

Hamas has handed over what it says are the bodies of four Israeli hostages from Gaza, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel is testing DNA samples to confirm they are the remains of Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgarat, 69, all of whom were taken by Hamas in the 7 October 2023 attacks.

Early on Thursday, Israel began releasing more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, with dozens returned to the occupied West Bank and Gaza, where they were met by jubilant crowds.

It will be the final exchange of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which is due to end on Saturday.

Initial testing of the four bodies' DNA was expected to happen close to the Israel-Gaza border. Israeli media later reported they were transported to a forensics laboratory in Tel Aviv.

It comes after the body of a Palestinian woman from Gaza was handed over by Hamas to Israel instead of the body of Israeli Shiri Bibas last Thursday, prompting fury in Israel. Hamas said it was a mistake and later handed over Bibas's body.

Hamas transferred the latest bodies privately, with no public ceremony, unlike in previous exchanges.

Israel has accused Hamas of orchestrating "humiliating" handover ceremonies, and delayed last weekend's prisoner release because of what it said was the cruel treatment of hostages at the handovers.

Before Wednesday's releases, a Hamas official told the AFP news agency that the return of the four bodies would take place "without public presence to prevent the occupation from finding any pretext for delay or obstruction".

Photos released by Reuters show a bus carrying what are believed to be Palestinian prisoners out of Ofer prison in the West Bank late on Wednesday.

A bus carrying Palestinian prisoners later arrived at a checkpoint at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, where a large crowd has gathered to celebrate their release.

Later, dozens of Palestinian prisoners were seen getting off buses outside a hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza.

Those expected to be released include more than 400 Gazans detained by Israeli forces during the war and 50 prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails.

Israel said earlier that prisoners would also be released from Ketziot prison in southern Israel, as well as from Ofer.

The Hamas-run Prisoners' Media Office said a hospital in Gaza was preparing to receive the released Palestinians.

The Israeli military says Shlomo Mansour, 86, was killed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and his body taken to Gaza

Tsachi Idan was ambushed with his wife and children and then led away

Itzik Elgarat, 69, was kidnapped from Nir Oz

Tsachi Idan, 50, was taken by Hamas gunmen from his home in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz near the Gaza border. His eldest child, Maayan - who had just turned 18 - was shot dead in the attack.

In a statement via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Tsachi's family said it was "with great sadness" that they had learnt "our beloved Tsachi is no longer alive and that his body will be returned to Israel during the night".

Itzik Elgarat, 69, was kidnapped from Nir Oz, another kibbutz, and reportedly shot in the hand during the attack. His phone was traced to Gaza following the attack.

Ohad Yahalomi, 50, was abducted from Nir Oz, along with his 12-year-old son, Eitan, who was released during the November ceasefire.

The IDF said in February that it had informed the family of Iraq-born Shlomo Mansour, 86, that he was killed by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and his body taken to Gaza.

Ohad Yahalomi was abducted from Nir Oz

The exchange is the final one before the current phase of the ceasefire deal ends on Saturday.

It remains unclear whether the truce will be extended, or progress to a planned phase two, which would see the release of all remaining living hostages in Gaza in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners.

Negotiations for phase two were due to start during the first phase of the ceasefire - but it is thought that they have yet to begin.

The impasse between Israel and Hamas over the nature of hostage handovers was resolved by mediators on Tuesday.

The 600 Palestinian prisoners were due to be released in exchange for the six living and four dead hostages Hamas handed over last week - but this was delayed until the next handover was guaranteed, and without what Israel described as the degrading ceremonies.

On Wednesday, thousands of Israelis lined the roads of southern Israel for the funeral procession of Shiri Bibas, and her two sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were killed in captivity in Gaza.

Israeli TV channels carried a live feed of the scenes and - after a private burial - the public eulogies by relatives, with crowds gathering to watch on large screens in Tel Aviv's Hostages' Square.

Kfir, aged nine months, from Nir Oz, was the youngest of the 251 hostages snatched in the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks. His brother, Ariel, was just four.

Shiri Bibas and her children were buried in a single casket next to her parents, Yossi and Margit Silberman, who lived in the same kibbutz and were killed there on 7 October.

In total, some 1,200 people were killed and 251 people taken hostage. It ignited the deadliest war in Gaza's history, in which more than 48,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.