Hamas released the bodies of four dead Israeli hostages Wednesday night local time without the ghoulish public ceremonies it has been holding during the exchanges.
The bodies of hostages Tsahi Idan, Ohad Yahalomi, Itzik Elgarat and Shlomo Mantzur were handed over to the Red Cross after midnight, local time, Arab and Israeli media outlets reported.
The exchange came after Hamas’ military wing agreed to hold the scheduled release without touting the victims’ coffins as props in their propagnda parades in Gaza.
The handover marks the last exchange of hostages of the first phase of the cease-fire. The agreement between Israel and Hamas will expire on Sunday — though the US is pushing to extend it.
“The handover will take place without public presence to prevent the occupation from finding any pretext for delay or obstruction,” the group said in a statement.
Israel had warned the group to end the public ceremonies that marked each of the hostage exchanges during the tumultuous cease-fire, slamming it as propaganda that infringes on the rights of the dead.
Hamas’ ceremonies garnered international backlash when the terror group paraded around the coffins of Shiri Bibas, her toddlers Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz last Thursday.
The Jewish state then suspended the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners until Hamas agreed to stop the “humiliating ceremonies,” which the terror group appears to have agreed to.
Officials have since informed the families of the hostages of their looming return, with the Idan family eager to have their loved one come home.
“We are all still waiting for the awaited certainty, which we will only be able to get after he returns to Israel and after all the necessary checks are performed by the bodies authorized by the state, while preserving the privacy of Tsahi and his family,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron also confirmed the release of Yahalomi, a French-Israeli citizen.
“In these suspended hours of pain and anguish, the nation stands by their side,” Macron wrote on X.
Elgarat’s brother, Danny, mourned his brother in a poem on Facebook, where he lamented not being able to do more to ensure his brother came home alive.
“Forgive me and the whole nation, we didn’t do enough to save you, I didn’t honor my promise to get you back safely,” the grieving brother wrote.
Following the release of the hostages, Israel agreed to free the 602 Palestinian prisoners who were meant to be released during the last set of exchanges.
Tonight’s swap marks the last exchange of the first phase of the cease-fire deal, where a total of 33 hostages were freed, along with five Thai nationals.
It remains to be seen if Israel and Hamas will negotiate for a second phase of the deal or extend the first phase, which officially ends on March 2.
Should the second phase go through, Hamas has agreed to free all the remaining living hostages at once, including Israeli-American Edan Alexander.
With Post wires
