Hamas says it has agreed to Israel's request to speed up the release of Israeli hostages, including two men Hamas has held for around a decade.
Hamas said it would give Israel the bodies of four Israeli hostages this Thursday, including the bodies of members of a young family whose case is known prominently throughout Israel. The group also said this Saturday it will release all six living hostages it had committed to freeing by the end of February, including the longest-held hostages.
Hamas is committing to releasing four more bodies of hostages next week.
In exchange, Israel is acceding to Hamas' request to allow mobile homes into Gaza for those whose homes were destroyed in Israeli strikes during the war that began in October 2023, as well as heavy machinery to unearth the bodies of Palestinians buried under rubble, according to an Israeli official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the arrangement.
Israel says these agreements were reached through mediators during negotiations in Cairo. As part of the deal, Israel will continue to release Palestinian detainees arrested in Gaza during the war and longtime prisoners convicted for deadly attacks against Israelis.
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