Hamas has said it is preparing to release the last four Israeli hostage bodies included in the initial phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The bodies of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi and Shlomo Mantzur will be handed over to Israel on Wednesday night, the armed wing of the militant group said.
Mr Idan’s family said in a statement: “Our family has received with great sadness Hamas’s announcement that our beloved Tsachi is no longer alive and that his body will be returned to Israel during the night.”
It continues: “Since Tsachi was kidnapped, we received several signs of life, and in the previous deal last November, Tsachi was alive and expected to be released.
“We appreciate the tremendous love and support we are receiving from the citizens of Israel, the media, and the Nahal Oz community.”
An Israeli official has confirmed it is prepared to receive the bodies at around 11pm local time.
Egyptian mediators confirmed today that they had secured a breakthrough that should allow the handover of the final four hostage bodies due in the first phase of the deal after a days-long impasse.
Hamas confirmed that an agreement had been reached for the exchange of hostages for prisoners, but said their release would be conducted under a new mechanism.
It said the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza was preparing to receive prisoners after their release.
Israel had previously refused to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday after accusing Hamas of breaching the ceasefire deal by staging what it considered an offensive public handover of hostages in Gaza.
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Days earlier, the agreement was held up briefly when Hamas handed over the remains of an unidentified woman instead of mother-of-two Shiri Bibas before delivering the correct body the next day.
With the 42-day truce due to expire on Saturday, it also remains unclear whether an extension will be agreed or whether negotiations can begin on a second stage of the deal, which would see the release of the final 59 hostages left in Gaza.
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Hamas said that, so far, it had not received any proposal for the second stage.
Despite numerous hiccups, the ceasefire deal has so far held up.
But moving to a second phase would require agreements on issues that have proved impossible to bridge in the past, including the post-war future of Gaza and Hamas, which Israel has vowed to eliminate as a governing force.
Underlining the precariousness of the ceasefire, the Israeli military said a projectile was fired from Gaza but fell within
the enclave. It said it was investigating the incident.
The exchange comes on the same day as the funeral for Ms Bibas and her two sons – four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir – who came to symbolise the trauma felt by many Israelis after the 7 October attack.
