On Thursday, Hamas will hand over to Israel the bodies of four hostages killed in the Gaza Strip after they were captured during the Al-Aqsa Flood attack on 7 October 2023.

Hamas will hand over the four bodies in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, which will release them next Saturday, in implementation of the truce agreement in force between the two sides in the Gaza Strip.

Since the ceasefire brokered by three countries – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – took effect, 19 Israeli hostages have been released from Gaza in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian detainees released from Israeli prisons, an average of one exchange per week.