2 h. ago Israel releases some Palestinian prisoners after Hamas returns bodies of four hostages

Gaza ceasefire appears to hold, though it remains unclear whether exchange would include all 602 Palestinian prisoners who were due for release on SaturdaySee all our Middle East coverageHamas has handed over the bodies of four hostages, and Israel has released some Palestinian prisoners, as the five-week-old ceasefire appeared to get back on track after a breach that had brought fears of a return to war in Gaza.The bodies of the hostages were transferred to the Red Cross in southern Gaza and driven to the border point at Kerem Shalom at about midnight. Meanwhile, a convoy of buses carrying Palestinian prisoners arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that 43 Palestinians being held in Ofer had been transferred to the Red Cross. Continue reading...

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5 h. ago Hamas hand over final four bodies of Israeli hostages in exchange which will see 600 Palestinian prisoners walk free in a matter of hours

The remains of Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgarat, 69, are due to be handed back to Israel this evening in exchange for 600 prisoners.

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5 h. ago Hamas to hand over four hostages’ bodies in exchange for release of 600 prisoners

Tsachi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi, Itzik Elgart and Shlomo Mansour set to be retured to their families on Wednesday

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6 h. ago Hamas releasing bodies of final four Israeli hostages in exchange for 600 Palestinian prisoners

The remains of Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgarat, 69, will be handed back to Israel later this evening, the terrorist group has said.

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63 h. ago Netanyahu ‘preparing atmosphere’ to return to war with Gaza, says Hamas official – Middle East crisis live

Hamas official Basem Naim says Benjamin Netanyahu ‘intentionally sabotaging’ peace deal According to a report from Hebrew media outlet Ynet, Israel has told international mediators that it will release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners who were initially scheduled for release on Saturday if Hamas returns four bodies today without any ceremony. The Guardian has not confirmed this report.Israel suspended the handover of 620 Palestinians it was due to free from its prisons on Saturday, putting the ceasefire agreement in jeopardy after Benjamin Netanyahu criticised what he called “disgraceful ceremonies that dishonour our hostages and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda”.We have fulfilled all our obligations according to the deal.Unfortunately, all the time Netanyahu and his government have been trying to undermine and sabotage the deal.They have committed a lot of violations – killed more than 100 Palestinians, prevented most of the basic needs of the Palestinians to enter the...

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4 d. ago Hamas frees two hostages as first phase of ceasefire nears end

Militant group due to release a further four hostages on Saturday as part of exchange for 600 Palestinian prisoners

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5 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Shiri Bibas remains mixed with others after airstrike, Hamas claims after Israel says wrong body returned

Israel has demanded the return of Shiri Bibas after it said testing showed that one of the four bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any other hostageFull report: Israeli military accuses Hamas of ‘serious violation’, saying Shiri Bibas not among returned hostagesOne of the four bodies returned by Hamas to Israel on Thursday is not that of Shiri Bibas, Israel’s military has said, calling it a “violation of utmost severity” of a ceasefire deal that was already precarious.The Israeli military confirmed that two of the bodies belonged to Bibas’ children, Ariel and Kfir, in the early hours of Friday. However, it added “During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body” Continue reading...

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5 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Shiri Bibas remains have been mixed with other remains after airstrike, Hamas says

Israel has demanded the return of Shiri Bibas after it said testing showed that one of the four bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any other hostageFull report: Israeli military accuses Hamas of ‘serious violation’, saying Shiri Bibas not among returned hostagesOne of the four bodies returned by Hamas to Israel on Thursday is not that of Shiri Bibas, Israel’s military has said, calling it a “violation of utmost severity” of a ceasefire deal that was already precarious.The Israeli military confirmed that two of the bodies belonged to Bibas’ children, Ariel and Kfir, in the early hours of Friday. However, it added “During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body” Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Middle East crisis live: Israeli military says body of Shiri Bibas is not among returned hostages

Israel has demanded the return of Shiri Bibas after it said testing showed that one of the four bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any other hostageThe Israeli military has said the two Bibas boys were “murdered by terrorists” in Gaza.The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said earlier that Ariel and Kfir Bibas had been identified after their bodies were released by Hamas on Thursday under the current ceasefire agreement.According to the assessment of professional officials, based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023. Continue reading...

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6 d. ago Middle East latest: Israel receives remains said to include a mother and her 2 young children

Hamas has released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two children who have long been feared dead and had come to embody the nation’s agony following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack

Politics

6 d. ago Hamas returns bodies of four Israeli hostages, including two young children

Hamas releases bodies said to be those of Shiri Bibas and her two young children after their father Yarden was freed earlier this month

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