KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire began Thursday in the Egyptian capital, Egypt said, averting a collapse ahead of Saturday’s expiration of the agreement’s first phase.
Officials from Israel, Qatar and the United States started “intensive discussions” on the ceasefire accord’s second phase in Cairo, Egypt’s state information service said in a statement.
Phase 2 talks are meant to negotiate an end to the war, including the return of all remaining hostages in Gaza who are alive, and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the territory. Return of remaining deceased hostages would happen in Phase 3.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for dismantling Hamas’ governing and military capabilities. Hours before talks began, an Israeli official said the country would not withdraw from a strategic corridor in the Gaza Strip as called for under the ceasefire.
Overnight, Hamas released the remains of four hostages in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners, the last planned swap of the ceasefire’s first phase.
The remains released Thursday were confirmed to be those of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsachi Idan, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of the captives.
Mantzur, 85, was killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war, and his body was taken into the territory. Israel said the other three were killed in captivity, without elaborating.
“Our hearts ache upon receiving the bitter news,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “In this painful moment, there is some solace in knowing that they will be laid to rest in dignity in Israel.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said he shared the “immense pain” of the family and loved ones of Yahalomi, who had French citizenship.
Hamas confirmed that over 600 prisoners had been released overnight. Most were detainees returned to Gaza, where they had been rounded up after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel.
President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, was expected in the region in the coming days.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the army needed to remain in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, to prevent weapons smuggling.
Separately, Defense Minister Israel Katz said at a meeting with local leaders that he had seen tunnels penetrating the border on a recent visit to the corridor. Egypt says it destroyed the smuggling tunnels from its side years ago and set up a military buffer zone to halt smuggling.
Hamas said any Israeli attempt to maintain a buffer zone in the corridor would be a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement. The terrorist group says that sticking to the agreement is the only way for Israel to secure the release of dozens of hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel was supposed to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor on Saturday, the last day of the first phase, and complete it within eight days. There was no immediate comment about the corridor from Egypt, which is opposed to any Israeli presence on the Gaza side of its border.
Hamas released the four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza overnight without a public ceremony.
The prisoners released Thursday included 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages.
The latest handover was the final one planned under the ceasefire’s first six-week phase, which expires this weekend. Hamas has returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu has vowed to return all the hostages and destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas, which remains in control of Gaza. The Trump administration has endorsed both goals.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after the 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.
If the identities of the four bodies are confirmed, then 59 captives will remain in Gaza, 32 of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly 150 have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals, while dozens of bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces and eight captives have been rescued alive.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
In northern Israel, police said a driver rammed his car into people at a highway bus stop, wounding at least eight Thursday in what authorities believe was a terrorist attack.
Police said they had “neutralized” the suspect, who they described as a 53-year-old Palestinian from the northern West Bank who lived in Israel and was married to an Israeli citizen.
Medical workers said the ramming injured at least eight people, two in serious condition, who they evacuated to the hospital.
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Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip and Melzer from Nahariya, Israel. Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.
