Middle East: Hamas hands over remains of four hostages

Israel released dozens of Palestinians from Ofer prison after the remains of Gaza hostages were handed over.

Israel is expected to release over 600 prisoners to Gaza and the West Bank. They include 467 people who were all arrested after Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials.

A bus carrying some of the released prisoners was seem arriving in Ramallah.

Hamas handed over the bodies of four hostages to the Red Cross in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli security official said.

The identities of the four have not been confirmed.

The release of the bodies were carried out without a ceremony, as opposed to past Hamas releases with stage-managed events in front of crowds. 

Israel has delayed the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas. 

Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.

The Brandenburg Gate in the German capital, Berlin, was lit up orange to mark the funeral of Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, who held German citizenship.

The landmark was illuminated with the words "Never Forget" and "Bring Them Home Now." 

Tens of thousands of people took part in a public funeral march in Rishon LeZion, Israel, for the funeral of Shiri and her two sons, who have became symbols for the plight of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

The Bibas family was kidnapped as part of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians. Their bodies were returned to Israel last week.

Yarden Bibas was abducted separately and released alive in a different handover last month. 

US President Donald Trump said a decision on how to move forward with the Gaza ceasefire has to be "made by Israel."

The first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which lasts 42 days, will expire this weekend.

Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to visit the region this week to push for the extension of stage one.

Witkoff said he wants both sides to begin talks on the second phase.

The next stage of the deal would see Israel completely pull out its troops from Gaza, while reconstruction is due to start in stage three.

The three-stage ceasefire came into effect on January 19.

The UN rights chief said on Wednesday he rejected any "proposals" to annex the land or displace Palestinians from their territories.

"We must resist any normalization of unlawful conduct, including proposals for annexation or forced transfer, which could threaten the peace and security of Palestinians and Israelis and of the wider region," Volker Turk told the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Turk did not elaborate, but violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has reportedly increased. There are also calls for annexation following Israel's announcement it is expanding its military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The UN rights chief also said, without mentioning any names, that perpetrators of abuses committed since the October 7, 2023, attacks need to be held accountable.

"Israel's means and methods of warfare have caused staggering levels of casualties and destruction, raising concerns over the commission of war crimes and other possible atrocity crimes," he said.

Turk also added that "Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups have taken, held, and tortured hostages in Gaza, and have indiscriminately fired projectiles into Israeli territory, amounting to war crimes."

Turk said that, to his knowledge, neither group had taken measures to punish those responsible.

"Impunity begets more violence," he said. 

Egypt has rejected an Israeli opposition leader's proposal that it should take over the administration of Gaza. Cairo called the suggestion from Israel's Yair Lapid "unacceptable."

State news agency MENA cited an Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying the idea was contrary to the longstanding Egyptian and Arab position on the Palestinian cause.

"Any notions or proposals that circumvent the constants of the Egyptian and Arab stance [on Gaza] ... are rejected and unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tamim Khalaf was quoted by MENA as saying.

The armed wing of the militant group Hamas said the bodies of four Israeli hostages would be released on Wednesday evening.

"Within the framework of the deal, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades has decided to hand over the bodies of four hostages tonight," the group said.

Israeli authorities have not confirmed the names.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas will not hold a public ceremony to hand over the bodies of four Israeli hostages.

"The handover will take place without the presence of the public," a Hamas official told the AFP news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Hamas official added the move was to prevent Israel "from finding any pretext for delay or obstruction."

Since the first phase of the ceasefire took effect last month, Hamas has released 25 hostages in public ceremonies at various locations in Gaza, drawing widespread condemnation. It also handed over the bodies of four hostages after first displaying the coffins on stage in front of large crowds.

Hamas officials said earlier Wednesday that the militants would release the four bodies Thursday in exchange for more than 600 Palestinian prisoners.

The West Bank is facing an "alarming spillover" from the Gaza war, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

"More than 50 people, including children, have been reported killed since the Israeli Forces' operation started 5 weeks ago," he wrote on X.

Israel's military launched a major offensive on Palestinian militants in the northern West Bank more than a month ago, shortly after a ceasefire took effect in the Gaza Strip, a separate Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory.

Lazzarini said that the "destruction of public infrastructure" in the West Bank and that "bulldozing roads and access restrictions are common place."

He added that "around 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes especially in refugee camps in the north."

"Patients cannot access health care, families are cut off from water, electricity and other basic services," he said. "This must end," he added.

Israel said Sunday its troops would remain in refugee camps in the northern West Bank for many months after tens of thousands of Palestinians living there were displaced by an intensifying, weekslong military operation.

Hamas confirmed on Wednesday that the group will release the bodies of four more Israeli hostages on Thursday, multiple news agencies reported.

The exchange of the bodies for 600 Palestinian detainees "will happen simultaneously," a Hamas official told the AFP news agency.

Around 60 hostages remain in Gaza, half of whom are presumed to be dead. So far, 25 living hostages and four dead hostages have been released since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel started on 19 January. 

Thousands of mourners gathered in Rishon LeZion, Israel, for the funeral of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who have became symbols for the plight of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

The Bibas family was kidnapped as part of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians. Bibas, 32 and her sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months. Their bodies were returned to Israel last week.

Hamas has long insisted that the three were killed by Israel's bombardment of Gaza, but Israel has said an autopsy does not support that conclusion.

Shiri Bibas' husband, Yarden Bibas, was also abducted but he was released alive earlier in February as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange with Hamas.

Speaking before the funeral, Yarden Bibas said it would be a private family gathering, but that he would not stop people from lining up along the funeral procession to kibbutz Nir Oz, where the family lived.

Egyptian mediators said on Wednesday that a deal had been secured between Hamas and Israel to exchange the bodies of some hostages held in Gaza for prisoners in Israeli jails.

Hamas will release the bodies of four hostages, while Israel will free around 600 Palestinian prisoners, many of them women and children, Egyptian and Israeli sources told the Associated Press and Reuters.

The Israeli government had delayed their release for several days, which Hamas had called "a serious violation" of the ceasefire terms.

Hamas, which is classified as a terror organization by the US, the EU, Germany and others, also confirmed details of the deal overnight.

The move keeps the fragile ceasefire intact with only a few days left in the first phase of the agreement. Despite repeated accusations of violations from both sides, including Israeli airstrikes, the deal has largely held since it went into effect on January 19.