Israel prepared on Saturday to receive six more hostages from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, as tensions over a misidentified body threatened to strain the delicate ceasefire agreement.
The six hostages—Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Hisham Al-Sayed, and Avera Mengistu—were set to be released as part of the first phase of the truce. Four of them were abducted during Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, while the other two have been held in Gaza for nearly a decade.
In exchange, Israel is expected to free 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The prisoner swap has continued despite multiple challenges, including a dispute over the remains of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas. Israel accused Hamas of returning an unidentified body instead of Bibas’ remains, which the group claimed were mistakenly mixed with others after an Israeli airstrike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the incident, vowing consequences but stopping short of withdrawing from the ceasefire agreement. Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of violating the truce by restricting aid to Gaza.
