JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - Israel has released more than 600 Palestinian prisoners after it received the bodies of four Israelis who were held hostages by Hamas in Gaza.
Reports quoting the Red Cross said four coffins containing the remains of Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgarat, 69, were handed over to the Israeli military at the Kerem Shalom crossing through Egyptian mediators.
Israel has begun testing DNA samples at the National Center for Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv to identify the bodies of the four, who were abducted in the deadly cross-border attacks carried out by Hamas on 2023 October 7.
After receiving the bodies, Israel began releasing the Palestinian prisoners through Red Cross. The international humanitarian agency's buses carrying them reportedly arrived in Gaza in the early hours of Thursday.
This marks the final exchange of prisoners and hostages between Israel and Hamas as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal that came into force on January 17.
The truce will expire on Saturday.
Israel says 59 more hostages remain in Hamas' custody, dead or alive.
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