Phase One Complete: 63 hostages Remain in Gaza, 24 Presumed Alive

The first phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas was completed early Thursday when the Palestinian terrorist group handed over four bodies belonging to hostages whom it murdered on October 7 and afterwards.

In return, Israel released over 600 convicted Palestinian terrorists, who were sent to a variety of different locations.

The Times of Israel reported:

The bodies believed to be of four hostages kidnapped by Hamas-led terrorists and held captive in Gaza for over 16 months were returned to Israel early Thursday in a nighttime handover devoid of macabre theatrics that had punctuated previous handovers.

In exchange for the remains of the four slain hostages, Israel agreed to free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners whose releases had been held up by anger in Jerusalem over Hamas’s handling of previous handovers, though statements from Israeli and Palestinian officials left unclear whether all the detainees would be released simultaneously as sought by Hamas.

…

Israel then began carrying out its initial forensic investigation. The families of the four hostages were being updated constantly and were supposed to receive official notifications once identifications were made.

In the first phase of the deal, Israel received 33 hostages, 18 of whom were still alive.

There are 63 hostages still in Gaza, 24 of whom are presumed to be alive. Hamas forced two of the living hostages to watch the release of several others, and made a video of them doing so, using it to pressure Israel in ongoing talks.

On Wednesday, Israelis turned out in their thousands for the funeral of Shiri Bibas and her two children, whose bodies were returned to Israel last week. Hamas initially delivered a body other than that of Shiri Bibas by mistake.