Israel to release 301 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages’ remains

Shafaq News/ Israel is set to release 301 Palestinian prisoners, originally part of the seventh batch of a prisoner exchange, in return for the remains of two Israeli hostages held by Hamas, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

According to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, Tel Aviv will release half of the 602 prisoners who were supposed to be freed last Saturday in exchange for the hostages' bodies within two days.

This comes amid reports that Egypt may step in to resolve the issue of the remaining prisoners, which could impact the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that a proposal is being discussed for Hamas to transfer the two bodies to Egypt in exchange for the release of 301 Palestinian prisoners. If successful, the same arrangement could be applied to two other deceased hostages, allowing for the release of an additional batch as part of the final stage of the agreement.

Facilitating the transfer through Egypt could help prevent a repeat of last Thursday’s events when Hamas publicly displayed four bodies, angering Israeli officials. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the scheduled prisoner release.

Egypt has played a key role in brokering the Gaza deal, negotiating for months alongside Qatar and the United States.