In short:
Hamas has handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, according to an Israeli security official.
Meanwhile, a Red Cross convoy carrying dozens of released Palestinian prisoners arrived to a cheering crowd in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
The handover will complete both sides' obligations under the ceasefire's first phase.
Hamas has handed over four bodies of Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza in exchange for Israel's release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The release comes days before the first phase of their ceasefire will end, with the next phase remaining unclear.
Hamas had previously identified the bodies as those of Tsachi Idan, Itzhak Elgarat, Ohad Yahalomi and Shlomo Mantzur.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the four bodies had been received by Israel, but officials are yet to formally identify them.
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The handover did not include a Hamas ceremony.
Israel had delayed the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas.
The militant group called the delay a "serious violation" of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase are not possible until the Palestinians are freed.
Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, have called the past ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.
A Hamas official said the four bodies were handed over a short while ago and they were waiting for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Meanwhile, a Red Cross convoy carrying some of the released Palestinian prisoners arrived to a cheering crowd in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
Palestinian prisoners were met with a crowd after they were released from an Israeli jail. (Reuters: Mohammed Torokman)
Wearing traditional keffiyeh scarves and jackets to cover their jail uniforms, the freed prisoners then headed to a quick health check-up.
The Palestinian detainees due to be released include 445 men, 24 women and minors arrested in Gaza, as well as 151 prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis, according to a Hamas source.
It was not immediately clear when the next detainees would be released.
The handover will complete both sides' obligations under the ceasefire's first phase.
The family of Israeli Tsachi Idan said it was notified he is dead and his body was among those returned.
Mr Idan was taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz and his eldest daughter, Maayan, was killed as militants shot through the door of the safe room.
Hamas had called the delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners over the weekend a serious violation. (ABC News)
Hamas militants broadcast themselves on Facebook holding the family hostage in their home as two younger children pleaded to let them go.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X about Israeli-French hostage Ohad Yahalomi, whose body is also expected to among those released.
"In these suspended hours of pain and anguish, the nation stands by their side," he said.
This latest release comes after the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her sons, nine-month-old Kfir and four-year-old Ariel, were handed over earlier this month.
Fragile ceasefire
The ceasefire's six-week first phase expires this weekend, with the first phase of including the exchange of 33 Israeli hostages for about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
It remains unclear whether an extension that could result in more of the 59 remaining hostages being freed will be agreed, or whether negotiations can begin on a second stage of the deal.
US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas would be released and an end to the war would be negotiated.
Talks on the second phase were supposed to begin the first week of February.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas' 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
Gaza has been destroyed by Israeli attacks, with almost no intact buildings remaining. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
About 250 people were taken hostage.
Israel's military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials.
While officials do not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, they say over half of those deaths have been women and children.
The fighting has displaced about 90 per cent of Gaza's population and devastated the territory's infrastructure and health system.
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