A high-ranking official of Hamas indicated on Wednesday that the terrorist group is willing to liberate all the remaining Israeli hostages still captive in Gaza for more than 500 days in a single exchange during the second phase of the high fire agreement. This move marks a significant development in the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar.
“We have informed the mediators that Hamas is willing to free all hostages in a single exchange during the second phase of the agreement, instead of doing it in stages, as in the first phase,” said Taher Nunu, a member of the organization. However, Nunu did not clarify whether this possible single release would also include the transfer of the bodies of dead hostages, which are currently planned to be moved in the third phase.
The second phase of the agreement stipulates the end of war and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. The first phase of the agreement, signed on January 19, is set to last 42 days and is scheduled to end on March 2. Once completed, 59 Israelis will still remain in captivity, with 35 of them having been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
Transfer of four bodies
The terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced on Wednesday that it will deliver the body of one of the hostages it has retained since October 7, 2023, once four captives killed on Thursday morning are released. The Israeli authorities have requested that the media not publish the name until the family has been notified.
Hamas has already announced that it will deliver the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two young children, Ariel and Kfir. However, in Israel, there is a denial to believe this until autopsies are performed and the identity is determined definitively. For now, it is known that the four bodies will be taken to the Forensic Institute Abu Kabir for identification, and only after that will the details be made public, which can take several days, as announced by the health authorities.
On Saturday, Hamas will release six live hostages: Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed. According to previous statements by Hamas, these six are the last living hostages that will be returned in this part of the agreement. The remaining hostages on the list of 33 captives that should be released in this first phase of the high fire are Shiri Bibas and her children Kfir and Ariel, Itzik Elgrat, Shlomo Mantzur, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz, and Tsahi Idan. The only name on the list whose death Israel has officially confirmed is Mantzur, with Israel expressing serious concerns about the state of the other seven.