The Albany Gazette - Hamas to hand over four Israeli hostages' bodies

The United States said talks were on track for a second phase of the ceasefire deal that has largely held but whose complexity and long-drawn-out implementation have highlighted its fragility.

In Israel on Wednesday, thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral of Shiri Bibas and her sons, who were killed in captivity in Gaza and had become symbols of the country's hostage ordeal.

The ceasefire has largely halted the Israel-Hamas war sparked by the October 7, 2023 attack, and has seen 25 hostages released alive so far in exchange for hundreds of prisoners.

"Mediators have informed Hamas that the (hostage-prisoner) exchange will take place on Thursday... Hamas and other resistance factions will hand over four bodies of Israeli captives, and in return, Israel will release more than 600 Palestinian detainees," a Hamas official told AFP.

Another senior Hamas official said the "exchange will happen simultaneously".

Israel has reached an agreement with mediators for the return of the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump's top envoy on the Middle East said Israeli representatives were en route to talks on the next phase of the ceasefire deal.

"We're making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team right now as we speak," Steve Witkoff told an event for the American Jewish Committee.

"It's either going to be in Doha or in Cairo, where negotiations will begin again with the Egyptians and the Qataris," he said.

This first phase is supposed to end on Saturday, but negotiations planned for the rest of the process -- which were to begin in early February -- have not yet started.

Hamas has said it is ready to release all the remaining hostages "in one go" during the second phase.

On Sunday, the group accused Israel of endangering the Gaza truce by delaying the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel said it had concerns over how the hostages have been freed, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing the handovers as "humiliating ceremonies".

Israel has yet to comment on whether it will release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday.

- Minute's silence -

The Israeli parliament held a minute of silence to mourn the deaths of three members of the Bibas family, as well as other victims of the October 2023 attack on Israel.

"Yesterday, the funeral of Oded Lifshitz took place; today, the funeral of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas is taking place. We remember all the victims of October 7. We remember, and we will not forget," said speaker Amir Ohana.

Since the ceasefire took effect on January 19, Hamas has released 25 living hostages in public ceremonies across Gaza, where masked, armed fighters have escorted the captives onto stages covered in slogans.

Israel has released more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has urged all parties to carry out prisoner and hostage swaps "in a dignified and private manner".

In Israel, the prisoners are largely viewed as "terrorists" for the violent attacks they have carried out against civilians and security forces.

For Palestinians, however, the releases are viewed as long-delayed justice for prisoners regarded as symbols of resistance against Israeli occupation.

The two sides have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, but it has so far largely held.

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after its 2023 attack, the deadliest in the country's history, and has made bringing back all hostages seized that day a central war aim.

The attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliation in Gaza has killed more than 48,000 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures that the United Nations considers credible.

- Bibas family funeral -

In Israel, thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral procession of Shiri Bibas and her sons Kfir and Ariel.

The Israeli national anthem was played as the funeral convoy passed through the crowd of mourners in the central city of Rishon LeZion, where the remains of the three hostages had been prepared for burial.

"The Bibas family, I think, is like the symbol of everything that happened to us since October 7," said retired teacher Ayala Schlesinger Avidov, 72, visibly emotional as she spoke to AFP.

"The two babies and the mother that did nothing to the world and were murdered in cold blood."

(B.Smith--TAG)