Israel has completed forensic tests confirming the identities of four dead Israeli hostages whose bodies were handed over by Hamas in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
On Wednesday night, without a ceremony, Hamas passed four coffins to the Red Cross from Gaza. The confirmation that they contained the remains of Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgarat, 69, came on Thursday morning from their families and communities.
The handover cleared the way for the delayed release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
It was the last exchange of the six-week-long first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, with questions over what happens next.
Hamas has said it is ready to start delayed talks on the second phase, which aims to end the war and secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.
But Israel’s prime minister, who faces pressures from his political allies to resume fighting and crush Hamas, has pushed for an extension of the current phase.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy the Palestinian armed group in response to its unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
At least 48,348 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Most of Gaza’s population of 2.1 million has also been displaced multiple times, almost 70% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.
On Thursday morning, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the hostages’ families, said it had “received with profound sorrow the news about the identification of Itzik Elgarat, Tsachi Idan, Shlomo Mansour and Ohad Yahalomi”, adding that all four men had been murdered.
“Fifty-nine hostages remain in captivity with no release date in sight. We urge all decision makers to ensure the return of the last hostage by the 50th day of the agreement,” it added.
“The hostages have no time left – they must return home to be reunited with their families or brought to a dignified burial.”
Tsachi Idan was taken by Hamas gunmen from his home in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz near the Gaza border on 7 October 2023. His eldest child, Maayan – who had just turned 18 – was shot dead in the attack.
Itzik Elgarat 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 was abducted from Nir Oz, along with his 12-year-old son, Eitan, who was released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
The Israeli military said earlier this month that it had informed the family of Iraq-born Shlomo Mansour that he was killed by Hamas at Kibbutz Kissufim on 7 October 2023 and that his body was taken to Gaza as a hostage.
Hamas handed over the four men’s bodies late on Wednesday night, with no public ceremony, unlike in previous exchanges during the current ceasefire.
Israeli authorities carried out initial forensic testing close to the Israel-Gaza border before transferring the remains to a forensics laboratory in Tel Aviv.
It came after the body of a Palestinian woman from Gaza was handed over by Hamas to Israel instead of the body of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas last Thursday, prompting fury in Israel. Hamas said it was a mistake and transferred Bibas’s body the following day.
On Saturday, Israel delayed the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners because of what it said was the cruel treatment of hostages at the public handovers.
After days of impasse, Egyptian mediators secured the exchange, with the Israeli prime minister’s office saying the hostages’ bodies would be handed over “in an agreed-upon procedure and without Hamas ceremonies”.
A Hamas official meanwhile 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”.
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.
Following the handover of the bodies, buses carrying Palestinian prisoners left Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and then arriving at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, where a large crowd gathered to celebrate their release.
Later, dozens of Palestinian prisoners were seen getting off buses outside a hospital in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza. They were among more than 400 Gazans detained by Israeli forces without charge during the war.
Dozens of prisoners convicted of carrying out deadly attacks on Israelis are also being sent abroad.
It now remains unclear whether the truce will be extended or progress to a planned second phase, which would see the release of all remaining living hostages in Gaza in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners.
Indirect negotiations for the second phase were due to start earlier this month but they have not yet got under way.-BBC
