Hamas and Israel have reached an agreement to move forward with the latest hostage swap, keeping the fragile ceasefire agreement intact for now. Officals have confirmed that the release of 620 Palestinians — including 23 children — will now go ahead after the earlier handover was halted over the criticism of ‘release ceremonies’.
Hamas will reportedly release the bodies of four Israeli hostages to Egyptian mediators without any ceremony in exchange. It’s unclear when the swap will occur, but some reports suggest the handover could happen as early as Wednesday evening. Earlier this week, Israeli negotiators plunged the ceasefire agreement into jeopardy after pausing the agreed handover in an eleventh-hour decision.
At the time, they accused Hamas of hosting ‘release ceremonies’ after videos emerged of an Israeli hostage kissing the forehead of their captors in a seemingly friendly display. Israel said the release of the 620 Palestinians won’t go forward “until the release of the next hostages is guaranteed and without the degrading ceremonies.”.
In response, Hamas accused Israel of a "serious violation" of their ceasefire, stating that talks about a second phase could not move forward until the prisoners are freed. Late on Tuesday, it was revealed that following discussions in Cairo, an agreement had been reached to move forward with the release.
News of the release reinforces ongoing commitments to a delicate ceasefire that’s been in place since January but which is expected to expire this weekend unless an agreement is made to extend it. Although both sides were meant to start discussions about a permanent end to the war, little progress has been made, and it’s unclear what will come next.
Israel has been accused of breaching the truce on multiple occasions already, having previously delayed the handover of hundreds of Palestinians. More than 48,000 Palestinians, most of which were women and children, were murdered by Israel after a bloody 15-month military campaign within the Gaza Strip.
A tentative ceasefire brokered in January 2025 finally brought some semblance of peace to the embattled strip, but millions of people, with limited resources, continue to struggle to rebuild their lives among the rubble. The ceasefire agreement was divided into three phases, with the first 42-day phase now expected to come to an end on Saturday.
The likelihood of the ceasefire holding and both sides entering the second phase, which would result in the release of dozens more hostages, now hangs in the balance. Negotiations were due to start last week, but it looks like little progress has been made.
In recent days, Israeli officials have suggested that they are open to resuming their brutal onslaught at any moment. According to reports, Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We are ready to return to intense combat at any moment.”. “The operational plans are ready,” he added.
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