Israelis in their thousands gathered Wednesday in Hostages Square in downtown Tel Aviv to watch a live stream of the funeral of three members of the Bibas family whose bodies were handed back Thursday, 16 months after they were abducted by Hamas from their home in southern Israel and taken back as hostages to Gaza where they perished. Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA-EFE
Israel was expected to free more than 600 Palestinian prisoners Wednesday in exchange for the bodies of four more Israeli hostages by Hamas, five days after Israel halted prisoner releases in protest over Hamas’ repeated use of hostage handovers as “humiliating” publicity stunts.
The conflict had threatened to derail the six-week-old cease-fire and prevent it from transitioning into a second planned phase after Hamas said it would boycott talks to extend the truce until the prisoners were released but mediators had managed to resolve the issue, according to Israeli and Hamas officials. Advertisement
The breakthrough came in Cairo after Hamas dispatched a delegation to the Egyptian capital led by the militant group’s Gaza chief, Khalil al-Hayya, with Egyptian officials saying Hamas would hand back the remains of their captives from Gaza without any of the paramilitary theatrics or showboating that marked previous exchanges.
Hamas stressed in a statement Tuesday night it was fully committed to the cease-fire agreement and wanted to see “all its stages and clauses” implemented.
An Israeli official told CNN that Hamas could return the bodies as early as Wednesday evening. Advertisement
The 620 Palestinians up for release, many of whom were detained since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, were to have been freed last Saturday in exchange for six hostages and four sets of remains of deceased hostages handed back to Israel in the preceding days.
The BBC reported that Israel might be preparing to release an additional group of Palestinian prisoners, with the releases set to take place either later Wednesday or Thursday, paving the way for U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to travel to the region to try to kickstart delayed negotiations on phase two which were due to begin Feb. 16.
The latest exchange, the last of the initial six-week phase of the agreement set to expire Sunday, came as thousands of Israelis lined the streets of the Tel Aviv suburbs along the funeral route of hostages Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel, whose bodies were returned Thursday.
The family was later laid to rest in a private ceremony near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel.
They are survived by Sheri’s husband and father of the boys, Yarden Bibas, who was also taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, but came back alive after being released Feb. 1, apparently unaware of the fate of his family, as they were held separately. Advertisement
