The Israeli government has accused the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas of murdering three of the four Israeli hostages in Gaza whose bodies were returned on Wednesday.
"Based on the information we have in our possession, Ohad (Yahalomi), Tsachi (Idan) and (Itzik Elgarat) were murdered while in captivity in Gaza," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office wrote in a statement.
The fourth body returned was identified as Shlomo Mansour. Israel announced on February 11 that this hostage was killed in the October 7, 2023 attack and his body was later taken to Gaza.
Today, Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared that the bodies had been identified, emphasizing the "moral obligation" to "do everything possible" to secure the release of all hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
"These are all humanitarian cases and [these people] must return," Herzog said, adding that he shared "the immense pain and sadness" of the victims' families.
Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross on Wednesday night.
Israel had made the release of a total of over 600 Palestinians from Israeli prisons conditional on the identification of the bodies of the four hostages. In addition, at least 445 Gaza residents detained during the war are also expected to be released, along with 11 others captured before the war began. Another 97 people will be deported.
A bus carrying Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel left Israel's Ofer prison early this morning heading to the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to a live broadcast by Qatar's Al Jazeera television channel.
A Hamas-linked agency confirmed that a total of 43 people were released in Ramallah and Jerusalem.
This is the latest exchange under the truce negotiated with the mediation of three countries --- Qatar, Egypt and the United States --- and which came into effect on January 19 in the Gaza Strip. The first of three phases of the ceasefire ends on Saturday.
Hamas said today that Israel has "no choice" but to begin negotiations for a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. The Palestinian group argued that Israel cannot resort to "false excuses" to make the process fail.
"We renew our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement, with all its details and provisions, and [express] our readiness to begin negotiations related to the second phase of the agreement," Hamas announced.
In mid-January, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as well as the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
This first phase would culminate in the delivery of these four new bodies, although during the first phases of the pact the agreement was questioned on several occasions.
Of the 251 hostages kidnapped on October 7 in Israel, 62 remain detained in Gaza, including 35 dead, according to the Israeli army.
The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip began after the Palestinian Islamist group's attack on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, which left more than 1,200 dead. In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military offensive has already caused more than 48,000 Palestinian deaths.
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