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."

US President Donald Trump on Thursday defended his administration’s unprecedented direct negotiations with Hamas, saying they were being conducted for the benefit of Israel and in order to secure the release of Israeli hostages.

“We are helping Israel in those discussions because we’re talking about Israeli hostages,” Trump told reporters while signing executive orders in the Oval Office.

“We’re not doing anything in terms of Hamas. We’re not giving cash,” he continued. “You have to negotiate. There’s a difference between negotiating and paying. We want to get these people out.”

Reflecting on his meetings with a group of eight released hostages on Wednesday, Trump said he could not believe their stories about how poorly they were treated in captivity.

According to Channel 13 news, Trump repeatedly asked the former captives whether the Israeli public supports continuing with the hostage deal beyond its first phase. Polling has indicated that the majority does, though backing for the second stage among coalition voters is lower.

Speaking on Thursday, Trump said the hostages urged him to continue with the deal.

“We have 59 left — of which 24 are living [and] they said they’re in very bad shape… [but the released hostages] want to know if we could just continue” with the release of the remaining Israelis still in Gaza, said Trump.

“I put out a statement that’s self-explanatory,” he continued, referring to the ultimatum he issued after his Wednesday meeting with the released captives, demanding that Hamas immediately release the remaining hostages or face destruction. “Somebody’s going to have to get a lot rougher than they’re getting. It’s a shame.”

Leak on talks meant to derail them
Jerusalem is not happy about the direct US-Hamas talks, though, a government official told The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity. Accordingly, Israel was behind Wednesday’s media leak about the negotiations’ existence, the official said, confirming reporting in the Ynet news site.

While the White House claimed it consulted with Israel on the matter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only found out about the US talks with Hamas after the fact, the official said.

The US decided not to inform Israel of Trump hostage envoy Adam Boehler’s recent meeting with Hamas beforehand because when Washington did so before a previously planned sit-down it ended up being forced to cancel after Jerusalem expressed strong opposition to the idea, Ynet reported.

Boehler decided to move forward with the meeting, which he largely used to try to secure the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander along with the bodies of American Israeli hostages Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein. The meeting also included discussions on a a broader deal between Israel and Hamas to release all remaining hostages and end the war sparked by the terror group’s October 2023 attack.

When Israel found out about the meeting after the fact, it sought to sabotage the effort by leaking to the media about the talks, Ynet said.

The government official indicated to The Times of Israel that the leak achieved its purpose and that the talks with Hamas had since hit a snag.

Israel’s opposition to the direct US-Hamas talks stemmed from its concern that the US might lose interest in securing a broad hostage-ceasefire deal once all American hostages are released.

Prioritizing Americans
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff tried to address those concerns, insisting Thursday that Washington is determined to release all of the hostages.

Still, he acknowledged that Alexander is a priority for the administration, and he indicated that it wants Hamas to release the 20-year-old IDF soldier as a demonstration of goodwill.

“Edan Alexander is very important to us — as all the hostages are — but Edan Alexander is an American, and he’s injured, so he’s a top priority for us,” Witkoff told reporters during a gaggle outside the White House.

He appeared to confirm that Alexander’s release was a topic of conversation in the direct talks that Boehler held with Hamas, while lamenting that those discussions have not yet paid dividend.

Time for Hamas ‘to be forthright with us’
“Unfortunately, what we learned is that Hamas told us they were going to be thinking about it a certain way… That’s important information for us to have. And so came the tweet from the president,” Witkoff said, referencing Trump’s ultimatum.

“We want to see these hostages come home. We’re not going to sit here and do nothing and tolerate these kinds of inhumane conditions. They’ve lived in a terrible situation. Who keeps dead bodies? Who does that? Who keeps people chained up downstairs? Who murders in front of other hostages? What has happened here is intolerable, and it’s not going to be tolerated by President Trump.”

“We’re prepared to have dialogue. But if the dialogue doesn’t work, then the alternative is not such a good alternative for Hamas,” Witkoff said.

Witkoff acknowledged that there is a lot of uncertainty regarding what will happen next after Trump’s ultimatum.

“It’s unclear exactly what’s going to happen. There’s going to be some action taken. It could be jointly with the Israelis,” Witkoff told reporters.

Pressed further on those comments, Witkoff appeared to walk back the suggestion that the US could join Israel in military action against Hamas.

“We’re a guarantor of the process. It’s the Israelis who control Gaza today… and the counterparty is Hamas. Any action principally comes from the Israelis. But you heard the president say yesterday, he’s giving the Israelis anything they need. It’s the Israelis [who will act], but with very, very strong physical and emotional support from the United States,” Witkoff said.

Asked what Trump’s ultimatum meant for phase two of the deal, which was supposed to begin this past Sunday, Witkoff responded, “People define it as an extension of phase one or phase two. For me, I don’t really care what we call it.”

“It’s time for them to gain some political capital and show that they’re capable of doing that.”

“Hamas has an opportunity to act reasonably, to do what’s right, and then to walk out. They’re not going to be a part of a government there,” Witkoff said. “I wouldn’t test President Trump.”

Pressed on whether Trump’s ultimatum has a specific deadline, Witkoff said, “I think there definitely is such a date, but I’m not at liberty to discuss what that is.”

Witkoff also defended the direct talks, saying they are within Boehler’s purview.

“It was the responsibility of the special envoy to actually have a conversation and see if anything can be achieved,” he said. “I commend him for doing that. Adam cares about lives. The hostage families are grateful for it, and so is President Trump.”

Boehler himself commented on the Trump administration’s efforts to secure the release of hostages, saying, “You’ll see some announcements in the coming days.”

“The president will continue to push until all of our Americans, dead or alive, are returned,” Boehler said during an event at the State Department for the families of American hostages.

“You saw what the president said yesterday to Hamas, where he made it abundantly clear that taking US citizens, or any citizens, wrongfully, is not appropriate and it will be answered in the toughest way possible. This president has no qualms about using action when it’s necessary. And we will all back him up in that,” Boehler added.

Hamas issues warning as US backs Gaza aid freeze
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida warned Thursday that any Israeli military escalation against the Gaza terror group will most likely lead to the killing of some hostages.

He further added that Israeli threats of war and blockade will not secure the release of hostages, and claimed that the terror group is still committed to abiding by the truce deal with Israel if Jerusalem continues with the framework’s second phrase.

Israel has refused to do so, as the second phase envisions Israel withdrawing fully from Gaza and agreeing to a permanent end to the war in exchange for the remaining living hostages.