Israel to release 602 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for four slain hostages

The prisoner's release was initially set for Saturday but was later delayed because of Hamas's repeated ceasefire-hostage deal violations.

By CORINNE BAUM FEBRUARY 27, 2025 00:49

Israeli security forces guard at the Ofer prison, outside of Jerusalem, from where Palestinian terror convicts will be released later today as part of a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, February 15, 2025. (photo credit: JAMAL AWAD/FLASH90)

Israel is set to release 602 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the bodies of four slain hostages on Wednesday night. 

The slain hostages will be handed over to the Red Cross at the Kerem Shalom crossing without a Hamas propaganda ceremony like those seen in previous releases. After the remains are all confirmed by Israeli authorities, the prisoners will be released from various prisons in Israel to either the West Bank or Gaza. 

Before their release, "Our eyes are watching you" was projected onto a building visible from Ofer Prison, where some of the prisoners were serving terms. 

המסר שהוקרן על אחד הבניינים שמשקיפים על כלא עופר: "העיניים שלנו צופות בכם" | תיעוד@OmerShahar123 צילום: מתוך שידור חי של AP pic.twitter.com/JxpK1ZmjEd

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 26, 2025

Prisoners' release delayed

On Monday, Hamas announced that it had reached an agreement with Israel in regards to returning the bodies of the remaining phase one hostage's remains in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners who were not released last Saturday.

“An agreement was reached to solve the problem of the occupation delaying the release of the prisoners who should have been released in the last batch, provided that they are released simultaneously with the bodies of the Israeli prisoners agreed to be handed over, in addition to the corresponding number of Palestinian women and children,” Hamas said in a Tuesday statement.

The prisoner's planned Saturday release was postponed because Hamas did not properly return Shiri Bibas's remains in the first handover of the hostages' bodies on Friday. Instead, the terrorist organization initially returned an anonymous woman's body, whose DNA did not match any of the hostages still held in Gaza. 

The delay with Bibas's remains, alongside other violations of the ceasefire-hostage deal, led the Prime Minister's office to pause the release of any prisoners.

“Due to Hamas’s repeated violations – including ceremonies that disgrace our hostages’ dignity and the cynical use of hostages for propaganda purposes – it has been decided to delay the release of the terrorists planned for yesterday until the release of the next hostages is ensured, without the degrading ceremonies,” the PMO said in a statement.

Hamas has put on ceremonies for every hostage release so far and invited Gazans to spectate. Often, there have been disturbing posters, and living hostages have been forced to do degrading things such as kiss Hamas troops on the forehead.