Hamas has handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages while it waited for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel in return, in an overnight exchange marking the final swap as part of a fragile truce in Gaza, Reuters reports.

The Palestinian detainees due to be released include 445 men and 24 women and minors arrested in Gaza, as well as 151 prisoners serving life sentences for alleged deadly attacks on Israelis, according to a Hamas source.

A bus carrying a handful of the released Palestinians left Israel’s Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and arrived in the Palestinian city of Ramallah shortly after, live footage showed.

The final hostage handover did not include a ceremony such as those organised by Hamas where it brought hostages on a stage in front of a crowd.

Israel received coffins carrying the remains of the four hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said earlier today.

 A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after being released from an Israeli jail, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Feb 27, 2025. — Reuters
A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after being released from an Israeli jail, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Feb 27, 2025. — Reuters

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