"Israel has received coffins with four fallen hostages via the Red Cross", stated the office of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement.
Hours later, it was announced that the bodies had been identified: 68-year-old Danish-Israeli Itzik Elgarat, 50-year-old French-Israeli Ohad Yahalomi, 85-year-old Shlomo Mansour, and 49-year-old Tsahi Idan. The men were all kidnapped from their homes during Hamas' terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has "with great sorrow" received the news that Danish-Israeli Elgarat is dead, according to her staff on X.
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, three of the four were murdered while in Hamas captivity. The fourth, Shlomo Mansour, was killed during the October 7 attack and was then taken to Gaza dead.
Celebrations on the West Bank
Almost simultaneously with the release of the four bodies late on Wednesday evening, a Red Cross convoy with dozens of released Palestinians left Ofer Prison on the Israel-occupied West Bank.
Jubilant crowds gathered in nearby Beitunia to celebrate, and many tried to catch a glimpse of the bus as it drove by. Later, the convoy was met by further crowds in Ramallah. Several of the released prisoners were lifted into the air by relatives and family members.
Several hours later, buses with hundreds of other released Palestinians arrived in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. According to Israel, a total of 643 Palestinians have been released in the latest exchange.
Imprisoned for 45 years
Among the released prisoners is 68-year-old Nael Barghouti, who with his 45 years in Israeli prison has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the political prisoner who has been imprisoned the longest.
Most of the released prisoners were, however, Gazans who were arrested after Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
All 643 were supposed to have been released last weekend, but Israel stopped the process after accusing Hamas of staging propaganda scenes during the return of the hostages.
When the remains of four hostages were handed over last week, it also turned out that one of the bodies was not the woman that Hamas had claimed. Israel responded by refusing to release the Palestinians who were supposed to be released.
