Palestinian prisoners are greeted after being released from Israeli prison following a ceasefire agreement in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. AP
It was the final such exchange the two sides agreed to as part of a truce that's set to end this weekend.
Negotiations over a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining Israelis in exchange for more Palestinians and a lasting ceasefire, have not yet begun.
An Israeli group advocating for the release of all hostages from Gaza confirmed the identities of the four bodies.
They have been returned to Israel. Israeli authorities were in the process of identifying the four bodies handed over on Thursday with DNA testing.
Hamas said in a statement that the “only way” for Israel to secure the release of the remaining captives was through negotiations and adhering to the agreement.
Hamas confirmed that over 600 Palestinians held in Israeli jails had been released overnight.
Most were captives returned to Gaza, where they had been detained after the beginning of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, and held without charge by Israeli forces.
A joyful return for released prisoners
Some released prisoners fell to their knees in gratitude after disembarking from buses in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
In the West Bank town of Beitunia, dozens of freed Palestinians were welcomed by crowds of relatives and well-wishers.
The released prisoners, some of whom had been serving life sentences, 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 what it claimed was Hamas' practice of parading Israelis before crowds and cameras during their release.
Hamas released the four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza overnight without a public ceremony.
The Palestinians released Thursday included 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials.
Only around 50 Palestinians were released into the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round, while dozens sentenced to life were exiled. 97 of them arrived at Rafah, crossing the border with Egypt, DPA reported.
Last handover in ceasefire's first phase
The latest handover was the final one planned under the ceasefire’s first phase, during which Hamas returned 33 Israelis, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians.
The ceasefire's six-week first phase expires this weekend. U.S. President Donald 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.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza.
Israel has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Over half the dead have been women and children.
The War displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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