Gaza ceasefire back after the mortgage deal – DW – 02/26/2025

Thousands of Shirkasutra gathered at Rishon Lezian, Israel for the funeral of Shiri Bibas and his two sons, who have become a symbol for the plight of Israel’s hostages in Gaza.

The Bibas family was kidnapped as part of October 7, 2023 in attacks of Hamas attacks on Israeli citizens. Bibas, 32 and his sons Ariel, 4, and Kefir, 9 months. His body was returned to Israel over the weekend.

Hamas has long stressed that the three were killed by the bombing of Gaza of Israel, but Israel has said that a corpse does not support the conclusion.

Shiri Bibas’s husband, Yordan Bibas, was abducted, but was released alive alive with Hamas earlier in February as part of a hostage prisoner exchange.

Speaking before the funeral, Yordan Bibas said it is a private family gathering, but he would not prevent people from lining for Kibutz Neer Oz with a funeral procession where the families live.

Egyptian mediators said on Wednesday that a deal was signed between Hamas and Israel to exchange the bodies of some hostage heroes in Gaza for prisoners in Israeli jails.

Hamas will release the bodies of four hostages, while Israel will free about 600 Palestinian prisoners, many of them, Egypt and Israeli sources told Associated Presses and Reuters.

The Israeli government delayed its release for days, which Hamas called the terms of ceasefire “serious violation”.

Hamas, which has been classified as a terrorist organization by America, European Union, Germany and others, ie confirmed the details of the deal.

This step retains the delicate ceasefire over a few days in the first phase of the agreement. Despite repeating violations from both sides, including Israeli airstrikes, the deal has been largely held as it came into force on 19 January.