Khalil Al-Hayya, chief negotiator of Hamas, said on Tuesday in a speech that activists intended to give the remains of four Israeli hostages in Israel Thursday in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Mr. Hayya said that Bibas family members – some of the most famous hostages in the world – are among the four bodies given to Israel on Thursday, without saying how much. The other three members of the Bibas family in Gaza are Shiri Bibas and her two children.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed that the bodies of four Israelis would have returned on Thursday, but the officials did not immediately respond to the requests for comments on the question of whether the Bibas family would be among them. The Israeli army had until recently declared that there were serious concerns for the life of Ms. Bibas and her children, although this did not confirm their death.
For many Israelis, the history of the Bibas family has become a symbol of the brutality of the October 7 attack led by Hamas: Shiri Bibas was covered by armed men and led to Gaza with her two children with hair Roux, Ariel, 4, and and took the baby Kfir, who was only 9 months old at the time. Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and the father of the children, was also kidnapped, bleeding strongly after an assailant hit his head with a hammer, said relatives. Mr. Bibas was released from captivity earlier in February.
Mr. Hayya and the office of the Israeli Prime Minister also said that the number of living hostages scheduled for Saturday will be brought to six against three on Saturday. Hayya said Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed, Israeli citizens who have been detained in Gaza for about a decade were one of the six. It was not immediately clear why Hamas had decided to increase the number of living hostages to publish on Saturday. The initial agreement had called on Hamas to publish three hostages this Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
The release of living and dead hostages this week would indicate that the implementation of the six-week-long initial ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas progressed despite the concerns about its fragility. Negotiations during the second phase of the agreement, which call for a permanent end to fighting, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of more hostages and prisoners, seem less solid.
The two parties were to start discussions on details on the next phase two weeks ago, but Qatar, a key mediator country, said the talks had not yet started.
Hamas accused Israel of delaying the start of discussions in phase two, while Israel has still not announced publicly while it would send the officials to participate.
As part of the first phase of the agreement, Hamas is supposed to release 33 Israeli hostages, including eight which, according to Israeli authorities, are dead. On Tuesday, Hamas released 19 Israelis.
