In an overnight exchange that marked the final swap in phase one of an ongoing cease-fire deal, Hamas released the bodies of four deceased Israeli hostages on Feb. 26 before Israel later released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
After it began on Jan. 19, the fragile cease-fire deal has held despite numerous setbacks. With the first phase set to end this week, the potential success of the next phase, which seeks to end the Israel–Hamas war, is still unclear. Hamas claims it hasn’t received any proposals yet but said on Feb. 25 that it agreed to the prisoner-hostage exchange after its delegation visited Cairo.
