Handover of six Israeli hostages under way in Gaza
· RTE.ieThe release six more hostages from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees is under way, after Israel confirmed that a body handed over hours earlier was that of hostage Shiri Bibas.
The Israeli military said two hostages were now in its custody and have crossed into Israeli territory.
Masked militants paraded Tal Shoham and Averu Mengistu on stage in the southern Gazan city of Rafah before handing them over to officials from the Red Cross.
The fragile truce in the war between Israel and Hamas militants had been threatened with derailment by the misidentification of a body released on Thursday as that of Ms Bibas, who was kidnapped with her two young sons and her husband in the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023.
However late yesterday, Hamas handed over another body, which her family said had been confirmed to be hers.
"Last night, our Shiri was returned home," the family said in a statement, which said she had been identified by Israel's Institute of Forensic Medicine.
The last living hostages from a group of 33 due to be freed in the first stage of the ceasefire deal that took effect on 19 January are being released.
Four of the hostages, Eliya Cohen, 27, Mr Shoham, 40, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Omer Wenkert, 23, were seized by Hamas gunmen during their attack on Israel in 2023.
Two others, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, and Mr Mengistu, 39, have been held by Hamas since they entered Gaza separately under unexplained circumstances around a decade ago.
In return, Israel is expected to release 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in its jails in the latest stage of an exchange that has largely held.
The Bibas family has been an emblem of the trauma suffered by Israel on that day. The misidentification of the remains of Shiri Bibas, as well as the staged handover of their coffins by Hamas outraged Israelis.
Her husband Yarden, seized and held separately from his family, was freed on 1 February.
The Israeli military said intelligence assessments and forensic analysis of the bodies of 10-month-old Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel showed both had been killed deliberately by their captors.
Israel's Army Radio, citing the forensic conclusions, said Ms Bibas was likely killed with her children.
"Our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home to her sons, husband, sister, and all her family for rest," her family said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to make Hamas "pay the full price" for failing to return the body but he refrained from walking away from the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas, which has itself accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire by blocking vital aid supplies into Gaza, nonetheless formally informed Israel of the names of the hostages to be released this morning in a sign the handover would go ahead.
The ceasefire has brought a pause in the fighting, but prospects of a definitive end to the war remain unclear. Hamas, which killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during its attack on Israel, has been at pains to demonstrate that it remains in control in Gaza despite heavy losses in the war.
The Israeli campaign killed at least 48,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, and reduced much of Gaza to rubble, leaving some hundreds of thousands in makeshift shelters and dependent on aid trucks.
Both sides have said they intend to start talks on a second stage, which mediators say aim to agree the return of around 60 remaining hostages, less than half of whom are believed to be alive, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
But hopes of a deal have been clouded by disagreements over the future of Gaza, that have been deepened by shock across the region over US President Donald Trump's proposal to clear the territory of Palestinians and develop it under US control.