At least twelve buses arrived at the European Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, as Israel freed Palestinian detainees after Hamas agreed to return the hostage bodies without a parade, which has been the norm during previous prisoner exchanges.
The buses were filled with hundreds of Palestinian detainees who had been transported to the Gaza Strip by the Red Cross.
The freed detainees will undergo a medical check before being reunited with their loved ones.
It will be the final exchange of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which is due to end on Saturday.
The detainees emerging from the buses were seen breathing a sigh of relief after spending years in Israeli detention centres.
The ongoing prisoner exchange has been facilitated by the Red Cross to reunite the detainees with their families.
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Families ran across the field to locate their relatives in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
Meanwhile, Hamas has also returned four more bodies of hostages killed during the Israeli invasion of Gaza following the 7 October Hamas attack.
Additionally, Israel has returned the body of a female who was mistakenly handed over by Hamas during the last hostage exchange.
Israeli authorities said, “The body returned by Hamas was not the body of Shiri Bibas.”
Furthermore, in a new statement, the Palestinian group has said that the only way to release the remaining Israeli captives from Gaza is through “negotiation and commitment” to the ceasefire agreement.
“We renew our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement with all its details and provisions and our readiness to enter into negotiations related to the second phase of the agreement,” the statement said.
Hamas also claimed that Israeli authorities’ attempts to obstruct the release of prisoners have “failed,” adding that this means Israel has “no choice” but to begin negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire deal.
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