KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hamas said Thursday it was ready to negotiate the next phase of the cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, after a swap in which it handed over the remains of four Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
It was the final such exchange the two sides agreed to in the first phase of the truce, which is set to end this weekend. Negotiations over a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more prisoners and a lasting cease-fire, have not yet begun.
An Israeli group representing families of hostages held by Hamas said the remains of all four hostages returned early Thursday have been identified. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum identified them as Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsachi Idan.
Mantzur, 85, was killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel, and his body was taken into Gaza. The other three were abducted alive, and the circumstances surrounding their deaths were not known.
Hamas said in a statement that the “only way” for Israel to secure the release of the remaining hostages was through negotiations and adhering to the agreement. It warned that any attempt to pull back from the truce “will only lead to more suffering” for the captives and their families.
The militant group confirmed that more than 600 prisoners had been released overnight. Most were detainees returned to Gaza, where they had been rounded up after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war and held without charge on security suspicions.
A joyful return for released prisoners
Some of the released prisoners fell to their knees in gratitude after disembarking from buses in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis. In the West Bank town of Beitunia, dozens of prisoners were welcomed by crowds of relatives and well-wishers.
The released prisoners, some of whom had been serving life sentences over deadly attacks against Israelis, wore shirts issued by the Israeli prison service bearing a message in Arabic about pursuing one’s enemies. Some of the prisoners threw the shirts on the ground or set them on fire.
Israel delayed the release of the prisoners on Saturday over Hamas’ practice of parading hostages before crowds and cameras during their release. Israel, along with the Red Cross and United Nations officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.
Hamas released the four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza overnight without a public ceremony.
The prisoners released Thursday included 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages. About 50 Palestinians were released into the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in this round, while dozens sentenced to life over deadly attacks against Israelis were exiled.
Last handover in cease-fire’s first phase
The latest handover was the final one planned under the cease-fire’s first phase, during which Hamas returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The family of Idan said Wednesday they had been told he is dead and his body was among those to be returned to Israel.
Idan was taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. His eldest daughter, Maayan, was killed as militants shot through the door of the family’s safe room. Hamas militants broadcast themselves on Facebook holding the family hostage in their home as two younger children pleaded to be let go.
The truce is in peril
The cease-fire’s six-week first phase expires this weekend. President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase. Those talks were supposed to begin the first week of February.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to return all the hostages and destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas, which remains in control of Gaza. The Trump administration has endorsed both goals.
But it’s unclear how Israel would destroy Hamas without resuming the war, and Hamas is unlikely to release the remaining hostages — its main bargaining chips — without a lasting cease-fire.
The cease-fire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas’ 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.
If the identities of the four bodies are confirmed, then 59 captives will remain in Gaza, 32 of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly 150 have been released in cease-fire agreements or other deals, while dozens of bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces and eight captives have been rescued alive.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials, who don’t differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say more than half the dead have been women and children.
The fighting displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system.
Jahjouh and Shurafa write for the Associated Press and reported from Khan Yunis and Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, respectively.