Hamas starts releasing bodies of four Israelis held captive in Gaza 

Hamas has released the bodies of a woman, her two children and an 83-year-old Israeli man who were taken captive during the October 2023 attack.

The bodies were handed over to the ICRC in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Thursday.

A large poster acting as the backdrop on the stage showed Netanyahu with fangs and blood on his face, dripping onto the photos of the four Israelis whose bodies were released.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian group said all four were alive before the “Zionist occupation aircraft deliberately bombed the locations where they were being held”.

The return of the bodies is part of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel that will also see hundreds of Palestinians released from Israeli jails where a number of them have been kept in detention without any charge or trial.

A Palestinian group said Israel is withholding the remains of at least 665 Palestinians, including several killed in the 1960s and 1970s.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Khan Younis, said “the site is symbolic for Palestinians because it was a central site for Israeli ground forces during the military operations in the city”.

“Preparations started in the early hours of the morning. There are masked fighters with green bands on their heads, armed with rifles and holding different signs with slogans,” he said. “The stage was well prepared with three main banners. One of them talks about the crimes committed by the Israeli forces during their operations in Gaza.”

More to come…