Gaza: Agreement reached to exchange Palestinian prisoners for bodies of four Israeli hostages

Mediators in the conflict between Israel and Hamas have managed, under the supervision of Cairo, to reach an agreement for the release of Palestinian prisoners who were to be released last week in exchange for the bodies of four Israeli hostages, the Egyptian state-linked Al-Qahera news media reported on Tuesday, February 25.

The Palestinian Islamist organization confirmed this agreement on Telegram, specifying that it is part of the first phase of the ceasefire concluded with Israel.

Since the truce began on January 19, 29 Israeli hostages, including four dead, have been handed over to Israel in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian detainees. According to Hamas, only four dead hostages are yet to be returned to Israel before the end of the first phase of the agreement.

On Saturday, in what was to be the seventh exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners under the truce, Hamas did release six hostages as planned . But the exchange was marked, like previous ones, by staged actions by Hamas fighters, who paraded five hostages on podiums in front of the crowd , before handing them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This weekend, the Hebrew state delayed the release of Palestinians, due to these "humiliating ceremonies" imposed on the hostages . Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also indicated that the IDF is ready to resume fighting "at any time."

The movement has said it is ready to release "in one go" all the hostages it is still holding during the second phase, which is supposed to definitively end the war. But indirect negotiations on this second stage have so far been delayed after mutual accusations of violations of the truce.