Israel-Hamas exchange that will take place after the impasse permission

Israel and Hamas say that the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza will be returned Wednesday night after the intermediaries decided the last dispute over the cessation of fire.

Israel will be released in return for 602 Palestinian prisoners, whose release has been delayed since last weekend in protest of what is said to be the cruel attitude towards hostages transmitted by Hamas.

The service of the Israeli Prime Minister has announced that the four bodies will be returned “without Hamas ceremonies” while the Israeli prison service said it was preparing to release prisoners and detained by Gaza.

Hamas also confirmed the exchange, and the prisoners’ media cabinet said Gaza’s hospital was preparing to receive released Palestinians.

This would clear the path of the American envoy of the Middle East Steve Vikof to visit the region. He said he wanted Israel and Hamas to start delayed conversations in the second stage of the ceasefire, the first to expire on Saturday.

The news of the breakthrough came when thousands of Israelis gathered on the roads in Central and South Israel to watch the funeral procession of hostage Bibs and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, whose bodies were returned by Hamas last week.

They were killed after being abducted during Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which caused the war in Gaza. Israel said they had been killed by their abductors, rejecting Hamas’s claim that they had died in Israeli air strike.

On Tuesday night, Hamas said a delegation led by Gaza’s leader, Halil Al-Haya, has ended talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo after reaching an agreement to resolve the problem of delayed release of Palestinian prisoners.

“They will be released simultaneously with the bodies of Israeli (hostages) who agree to be handed over in the first phase, in addition to the respective Palestinian women and children,” is added.

Hayya also reiterated that Hamas, who was prescribed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries – is engaged in the transaction to terminate the fire “with all its stages and clauses.”

Israeli officials also said an agreement had been reached with the intermediaries, but it was not until Wednesday afternoon that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet presented a brief statement confirming this.

“Four of our deceased hostages will be returned tonight within the first stage, in a agreed procedure and without Hamas ceremonies,” it says without nameing them.

Hamas’s military wing spokesman later announced: “As part of the deal, al-Casam brigades decided to hand over the bodies to four (hostages) tonight.”

He identifies them as Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgaraat, 69.

The Israeli Prison Service has confirmed that “is preparing for the process of release of closed terrorists in accordance with the agreement.”

Operational units would accompany the Palestinian prisoners and detained to the prison of a bond of the occupied West coast and the Ketziot prison in South Israel, where they would be identified by the Red Cross and expect the transmission of Israeli hostages, the statement said.

Once their release has been approved, they will be driven by the Red Cross to release points on the west coast, and Kerem Shalom passes with South Gaza, she added.

Meanwhile, at the Palestinian Prisoners Media Service, the European Gaza Hospital in the southern town of Khan Enis is preparing to receive those returned to Gaza.

Earlier, she said that 602 Palestinians included 445 gazan detained by Israeli forces during the war, and 50 prisoners serving life in Israeli prisons.

They were to be released last Saturday in exchange for six living and four dead hostages, who were betrayed by Hamas, including Shiri, Ariel and Cfir Bibas.

However, the Israeli Prime Minister said at the beginning of Sunday that the release would be postponed “in the light of Hamas repeated violations, including the ceremonies that humiliate our hostages and the cynical operation of our hostages for propaganda purposes.”

Hamas said Israel’s decision was a “gross” violation and said that indirect conversations about more steps, including in the second phase of the transaction, were conditional for the release of prisoners.

A total of 33 Israeli hostages are estimated to be exchanged for about 1900 Palestinian prisoners and detained by gas during the first phase of the fire termination transaction, which lasted six weeks.

So far, 25 living hostages and four dead hostages have been released. Both Israel and Hamas said the last four hostages were dead. Five living Thai hostages were also released outside the deal.

The agreement has seen that the Israeli forces are withdrawing from the densely populated regions of Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are allowed to return to the north, and hundreds of trucks are allowed every day for help on the territory.

The second phase of the cessation of the fire should see the remaining 57 hostages, the complete withdrawal of Israel from the gas and the constant cessation of the fire.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the attack on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 were taken hostage.

Since then, at least 48 348 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in Hamas.

The greater part of the gas population of 2.1 million has also been replaced repeatedly, almost 70% of the buildings are estimated at damaged or destroyed, health, water, sanitary and hygiene systems have collapsed and there is a shortage of food, fuel, medicines and shelter.