Sawt Falasteen - Israel dispatches negotiators after Hamas hands over hostage bodies

The overnight swap was the final stage of an initial deal under the fragile truce that took effect on January 19, largely halting the Gaza war.

Under the first phase, Hamas freed 25 living Israeli and dual-national hostages seized in its October 7, 2023 attack and returned the bodies of eight others. It also released five Thai prisoners outside the deal's terms.

Israel, in return, was expected to free around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas officials told AFP that Israel had freed about 1,700 so far.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group said Israel freed 596 prisoners Thursday after the bodies were handed over.

It said 46 more prisoners were yet to be released in order to complete the swap -- "all women and minors from Gaza" who were arrested after the war began.

AFP journalists saw hundreds of prisoners being released early Thursday in Gaza and the West Bank. Egypt's state-linked Al-Qahera News said 97, marked for deportation by Israel, had arrived at Gaza's Rafah crossing.

After the swap Hamas called on Israel to return to the negotiating table for delayed talks on a second phase of the deal, intended to lead to a permanent end to the war.

"We have cut off the path before the enemy's false justifications, and it has no choice but to start negotiations for the second phase," Hamas said.

Later on Thursday, Netanyahu's office said he instructed Israeli negotiators to head to Cairo for the Gaza talks.

The prisoners freed Thursday were meant to be released at the weekend, but Israel delayed the process after Hamas staged elaborate handover ceremonies.

Hamas said Thursday's handover would take place in private "to prevent the occupation from finding any pretext for delay".

In Ramallah, several freed Palestinians were lifted onto shoulders. A group of women wept around one released prisoner, and a child held aloft flashed victory signs with both hands.

"We were in hell and we came out of hell. Today is my real day of birth," said one prisoner, Yahya Shraideh.

- 'Very tough day' -

Hours after the handover, an Israeli pro-hostage group confirmed "with profound sorrow" the identities of the four bodies Hamas returned on Thursday.

Ohad Yahalomi, Tsachi Idan, Itzik Elgarat and Shlomo Mansour "have been laid to eternal rest in Israel", said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Netanyahu's office said based on "all of the information at our disposal", Yahalomi, Idan and Elgarat "were murdered while held hostage in Gaza".

Mansour, it added, was "murdered in the 7 October 2023 massacre".

Israel Berman, a businessman and former member of the Nahal Oz kibbutz where Idan was abducted, said that "until the very last moment, we were hoping that Tsachi would return to us alive".

"This morning brought us the harsh news," he added. "It's a very tough day."

Ziva Hershkowitz, an administrator at a local university, said that "as Israelis, we're still waiting for, you know, a light in the dark".

Calling for the ceasefire deal to be extended, she added: "People have to come back, really."

- 'Negotiations will begin' -

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

"We're making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team right now as we speak," Steve Witkoff said.

The prospects for the second phase are far from certain, however.

The current truce agreement was only arrived at after months of gruelling negotiations, and some members of Netanyahu's coalition are eager to resume the war and destroy Hamas once and for all.

Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Netanyahu pledged on Thursday to work "relentlessly" to bring back all the hostages.

President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that Israel had a "moral obligation" to secure the hostages' return.

"Our hearts ache upon receiving the bitter news of the identification of" the four bodies, he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Hamas to stop its "barbarism", after confirmation that French-Israeli hostage Yahalomi was among four bodies returned.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliation in Gaza has killed at least 48,365 people, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures that the United Nations considers credible.

V.Said--SF-PST