Israel and Hamas reach Gaza ceasefire and hostage release de

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sraeli and Hamas officials said Tuesday they had reached an agreement to exchange the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, keeping their fragile ceasefire intact for at least a few more days. Israel said the exchange would take place late Wednesday evening.

Israel has delayed the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during releases by Hamas since the ceasefire took effect on January 19. The terrorist group called the delay a "serious violation" of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase were not possible until the prisoners are freed.

The deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires on Saturday. But late Tuesday, Hamas said an agreement had been reached to resolve the dispute during meetings in Cairo.

In a brief statement on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed that an agreement had been reached by the mediators, adding that "our four fallen hostages will be returned tonight as part of Phase A, under an agreed procedure and without Hamas ceremonies."

The breakthrough appeared to clear the way for the return of the bodies of four more dead hostages and hundreds of additional Israeli-held prisoners scheduled to be released under the ceasefire.

The prisoners previously slated for release "will be released simultaneously with the bodies of the Israeli prisoners who were agreed to be handed over," along with the release of a new set of Palestinian prisoners, Hamas said in a statement.

So far Hamas has released living Israeli hostages and the bodies of dead captives in large public ceremonies during which the Israelis were paraded and forced to wave to large crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and U.N. officials, have said the ceremonies were humiliating to the hostages, and Israel last weekend delayed the scheduled prisoner release in protest.

The latest agreement would complete both sides' obligations of the first phase of the ceasefire — during which Hamas is mean to return 33 hostages — including eight bodies — in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

It also could clear the way for a likely return visit to the region by the White House's Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

He said at a Tuesday event in Washington for the American Jewish Committee that Israeli representatives were already on their way to engage in talks on the next phase of the ceasefire deal, and he repeated that he was also ready to head back to the region, according to the French news agency AFP.

"We're making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team right now as we speak," Witkoff said, adding that talks could resume in Cairo or Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Witkoff has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas are to be released and an end to the war is to be negotiated. The phase-two talks were supposed to begin weeks ago but never did.

Militant group Hamas said on Thursday it was ready to begin talks on the second phase of a ceasefire in Gaza after several hundred Palestinians were released from Israeli jails overnight in return for the bodies of four Israeli hostages.

In a statement early Thursday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had ordered a delegation of negotiators to be send to Cairo, Egypt the same day to continue talks.

It was the final exchange of the six-week first phase of a ceasefire that came into effect on January 19 in the war in Gaza.

Talks have yet to begin on a second phase, meant to lead ultimately to a permanent end to the war that began in October, 2023 when Hamas-led fighters stormed Israeli towns and Israel responded with a retaliatory assault that has devastated the enclave.

Hamas said on Thursday the only way remaining hostages in Gaza would be freed is through commitment to the ceasefire.

“We renew our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement, and confirm our readiness to enter into negotiations for the second phase of the agreement,” the group said in a statement.

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said returning the remaining 59 hostages was a top priority, but that there will be no agreement on the second stage of the ceasefire if Hamas is left intact in Gaza.

“Our demands are clear,” Cohen, a security cabinet member, told public broadcaster Kan.

Cohen said Israel was in a stronger position to negotiate now than it was on the eve of the ceasefire because it has full backing from the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, which this month began shipping heavy bombs.

Egyptian mediators on Wednesday secured the handover of the bodies of the final four hostages in the deal’s first phase, in return for 620 Palestinians either detained by Israeli forces in Gaza or jailed in Israel.

Hamas had been displaying living hostages and coffins carrying hostage remains on stage in front of a crowd in Gaza before handing them over, to sharp criticism including from the United Nations.

The final handover did not include such a ceremony.

Israel received coffins carrying the remains of the four hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in the early hours of Thursday.

President Isaac Herzog in a post on X confirmed the bodies as those of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi and Shlomo Mantzur, all of whom were abducted during the October 7, 2023 attack from their kibbutz homes near Gaza.

The Palestinians released overnight include 445 men and 24 women and minors detained in Gaza, as well as 151 prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis, according to a Hamas source.

One bus transported detainees from Israel’s Ofer prison in the Occupied West Bank to Ramallah where cheering crowds had gathered to greet them.

Released prisoner Bilal Yassin, 42, told Reuters he had been in Israeli detention for 20 years.

“Our sacrifices and imprisonment were not in vain,” Yassin said. “We had confidence in the [Palestinian] resistance.”

Nearly 100 more Palestinian prisoners were handed over to Egypt, where they will stay until another country accepts them, according to a Hamas source and Egyptian media.

As the status of the Gaza ceasefire entered limbo early Sunday with the formal end of its 42-day first phase, Israel said it would wait an unspecified period of time before taking any action, unveiling details of what it said was an American outline for the release of the remaining hostages and a permanent ceasefire.

Minutes after midnight and following a four-hour security consultation with top officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declared that it was endorsing what it described as a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, which would see the ceasefire with Hamas extended through Ramadan and Passover, during which all hostages could potentially be released.

Ramadan, which began Friday night, runs until March 29. Passover ends on April 19.

According to Israel’s account of Witkoff’s proposal, half of the remaining hostages — living and dead — would be released on the first day of the extended ceasefire, and the remaining captives would be released at the end of the period if a permanent ceasefire is reached.

Netanyahu’s office said Witkoff had suggested the outline due to his impression that “at this stage, there is no option to bridge the gaps between the sides on ending the war, and that additional time is needed for talks about a permanent ceasefire.”

The statement claimed that Hamas has so far rejected the US plan, and implied that if this stance isn’t changed, Israel could resume the war against the Palestinian terror group that was sparked by the latter’s October 7, 2023, onslaught and which has been on pause since January 19.

Hamas has indeed publicly rejected Israel’s proposal to extend the first stage of the deal, insisting that the deal proceed with phase two — which includes the release of all remaining living hostages, a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and a permanent end to the war. Israel has largely refused to negotiate the details of phase two for the past month.

During the first phase, 33 Israeli hostages were released, eight of them dead, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including many convicted terrorists serving hefty jail sentences. Five Thai nationals held hostage in the Gaza Strip were freed separately.

The marathon meeting Saturday evening — headed by Netanyahu and attended by Defense Minister Israel Katz, senior defense officials, and Israel’s negotiating team — was convened to formulate Israel’s path ahead amid the deadlocked negotiations. As of Sunday, the first phase of the truce is over and hasn’t been extended, no second phase has been negotiated, and fighting can therefore resume at any time.

But Jerusalem decided to wait before taking such a step.

Netanyahu’s office said Hamas has yet to accept Witkoff’s plan, saying: “If Hamas changes its position, Israel will immediately enter negotiations on all the details of the Witkoff plan.”

The statement did not directly threaten a return to war, instead reminding the public — and Hamas — that the initial agreement allows Israel to return to fighting after March 1 if negotiations are deemed ineffective.

The Prime Minister’s Office claimed in its statement that Hamas had repeatedly violated the agreement, while Israel was in full compliance.

However, the agreement states that talks on phase two of the deal will begin “no later than day 16.” Israel has not engaged in indirect talks with Hamas on the second phase of the agreement until after day 42. Additionally, the IDF didn’t start withdrawing its forces from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border on Saturday, despite the deal requiring Israel to start this process on day 42.

Before Saturday’s high-level consultations, the premier also held an extensive telephone discussion on Friday evening as well, which, in a rare instance, continued into Shabbat.

Channel 12 news reported Saturday that IDF troops have been drilling the past few days for a potential rapid return to areas in Gaza from which the IDF withdrew under the deal, including a return to the Netzarim Corridor, and for the movement of the civilian populace from the north of the Strip to humanitarian areas in southern Gaza.

Two IDF divisions are currently deployed to a buffer zone on the Gaza border, including the Philadelphi Corridor. An Israeli official sent a statement to reporters Thursday rejecting any withdrawal of IDF troops from the corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, despite the deal’s requirement that it start pulling out forces on the 42nd day of the ceasefire, and complete the process on day 50.

Witkoff is expected to visit Israel soon, likely this coming week. The Ynet news site reported early Sunday, without citing sources, that Jerusalem would likely hold off on renewing the fighting until the visit.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Witkoff would not travel to the region until late in the week at the earliest, as he plans to remain in the United States for Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to have members of Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza killed if hostages are not immediately released.

"'Shalom Hamas' means Hello and Goodbye — You can choose. Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance,” he added. “Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”

The White House said in a statement that Trump met Wednesday with eight hostages released from Gaza: Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher and Noa Argamani.

The administration is engaging in direct talks with Hamas over the release of U.S. hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Wednesday.

Trump believes the dialogue is part of a "good-faith effort to do what’s right for the American people," Leavitt said at a White House news briefing.

"There are American lives at stake," she added, saying Israel had been consulted.

Asked whether the scope of the talks included Trump's proposal to take over Gaza, Leavitt said she would not go into details and referred questions to the State Department.

Israel recently approved a plan from the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, that would have continued the first stage of the ceasefire through Ramadan and Passover instead of proceeding to the second phase of peace talks.

Witkoff's plan called for the release of half of the remaining hostages, including the bodies of those who have died, on the first day and the remaining hostages once a permanent ceasefire deal is reached, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

But Hamas rejected the proposal, saying it didn't honor the original, multiphased ceasefire agreement.

White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement Sunday that Israel has "negotiated in good faith since the beginning of this administration to ensure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists."

Hughes added that the United States will support Israel's decision on next steps "given Hamas has indicated it’s no longer interested in a negotiated ceasefire."

On Monday, Netanyahu warned Hamas in remarks before the Knesset, Israel's legislature, that if the group didn't release more hostages, "there will be consequences beyond your imagination. We are preparing for the next stages of the campaign — not everything is visible, and that’s a good thing."