Who Are the Deceased Hostages Hamas Said It Handed Over to Israel?

Hamas on Wednesday released the remains of what it said were four Israeli hostages, the last in a group of eight former captives and 25 living ones who were slated for repatriation in the first phase of a fragile cease-fire deal between Israel and the militant group.Hamas’s military wing said the remains belonged to Shlomo Mansour, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi, and Tsachi Idan — Israelis kidnapped during the group’s Oct.7, 2023, attack on Israel that started the war.

Israel did not immediately comment.The release followed several fraught days of negotiations, after Israel refused on Saturday to deliver 620 Palestinian prisoners whom it had agreed to exchange for six Israeli hostages.Since late January, when the cease-fire went into effect, Israel and Hamas have been regularly exchanging hostages taken to Gaza for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.After Hamas released the six Israelis on Saturday — most of them in performative events designed to show the militant group’s continued control in Gaza — Israel refused to free the Palestinian prisoners, saying it would not do so until Hamas committed to releasing more hostages and forgoing “humiliation ceremonies.”Before returning hostages, Hamas has often paraded them through shouting throngs of the group’s supporters, enraging Israeli officials.

Last week, before Hamas handed over coffins said to contain the remains of four captives, the militant group staged a display with music and taunts aimed at the Israeli government.Volker Türk, the United Nations human rights chief, called the event “abhorrent and cruel.”Israeli authorities had forensic teams present at the handover to attempt an initial identification of the bodies, the Health Ministry said, after which they would be taken to Israel’s Institute of Forensic Medicine.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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