Hamas says it will return bodies of four hostages including Bibas family

Hamas says it will hand over the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, including the two youngest people held by the Palestinian armed group.

The group's negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, said the bodies would include those of the Bibas family - Shiri and her young children Kfir and Ariel, who were aged nine months and four years when Hamas kidnapped them during the 7 October 2023 attack.

Hamas alleges that the three were killed in Israeli bombardment. Israel has not confirmed this. The children's father Yarden was released by Hamas earlier this month.

Al-Hayya said Hamas would also release six living hostages on Saturday – double the number originally planned.

In exchange, Israel will free all women and those under the age of 19 arrested since last October and is allowing some rubble-clearing equipment into Gaza through the border with Egypt.

In a statement, al-Hayya said the group had agreed "handing over four bodies of the occupation prisoners on Thursday 20 February, including the bodies of the Bibas family".

Hamas claimed in November 2023 they had been killed in an Israeli air strike, without providing evidence. Israeli officials have said only that they are gravely concerned for their lives.

An Israeli official told Reuters that deceased hostages would undergo identification in Israel before being named.

In a statement, the Bibas family said: "In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil following Hamas spokesperson's announcement about the planned return of our Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir this Thursday as part of the hostages' remains release phase.

"We want to make it clear that while we are aware of these reports, we have not yet received any official confirmation regarding this matter.

"Until we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over.

Hamas has named two of the six Israelis to be released on Saturday.

They are Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who were seized in 2014 and 2015 respectively after they crossed into Gaza on their own. The Israeli government has said both suffered from mental health issues at the time.

The families of several hostages have said that their loved ones are among those due to be released on the same day.

They are Omer Shem Tov, 22, Eliya Cohen, 27 and Omer Wenkert, 23, who were taken from the Nova Festival on 7 October 2023, and 40-year-old Tal Shoam who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri.

Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages. In exchange, Israel agreed to release about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.

Talks on progressing to the second phase of the deal - under which the remaining living hostages would be released and the war would end permanently - were due to start earlier this month but have not yet begun.

Hamas has said it is ready to release in one go all the hostages due to be freed in phase two of the ceasefire deal with Israel. 

But a Hamas spokesman made clear that the offer involving more than 60 remaining hostages was dependent on a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and an agreement for a permanent end to the war. 

Hamas also rejected Israel's demand for its disarmament and removal from Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the talks would begin "this week".

He said Israel would "not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist organisation in Gaza" but that Israel could prolong the ceasefire if discussions were productive.

"If we will see there is a constructive dialogue with a possible horizon of getting to an agreement (then) we will make this time-frame work longer," Saar said.

A total of 73 hostages are currently being held in Gaza - a mixture of Israeli soldiers and civilians both dead and alive. This also includes Thai and Nepalese nationals.

Some 251 hostages were taken by Hamas when it attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people.

Israel responded with a 15-month military offensive that killed 47,460 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, and devastated the coastal enclave.