Hamas will release another six living Israeli hostages at the weekend – as well as the bodies of four others on Thursday in a major climb-down.
Militants were due to free three on Saturday, plus the remains on Thursday but made the agreement in return for Israel allowing mobile phones and building gear into Gaza. But Palestinians and Arab countries have universally rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s brutal proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza and make it a “Middle East Riviera”. Israel is expected to continue releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including many serving life sentences for deadly attacks, in exchange for hostages.
The warring sides have yet to negotiate the second and more difficult phase of the ceasefire but Israel has said it is preparing to begin talks. Since the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, more than 50,000 people have died in Gaza and Lebanon and nearly 70% of the Strip’s buildings have been devastated. Around 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attack.
The Saturday release of six hostages represents the last living hostages set to be freed under the first phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Three hostages had been expected to be freed on Saturday. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya announced the decision in prerecorded remarks on Tuesday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has fired an official who criticised his decision to end a system that paid stipends to the families of prisoners.
Abbas announced the replacement of Qadoura Fares as head of a prisoner affairs body on Tuesday, without providing an explanation. Last week, Abbas put an end to what was known as the “martyrs’ fund,” acquiescing to longstanding US and Israeli demands. Many Palestinians viewed the payments as compensation for people harmed in the course of their struggle against Israeli military rule.
But the US and Israel had long criticised the practice, saying it incentivised violence. Abbas is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, many of whom view his Palestinian Authority as corrupt and autocratic. The Hamas militant group, which drove Abbas’ forces from Gaza in 2007, criticised Fares’ firing, saying it reflected the “oppression and exclusion” practiced by the authority.
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