Israel's Condition for the Release of Palestinian Prisoners; Halting Hamas's Show of Power with Hostages

Israel has demanded the transfer of the bodies of hostages through Egypt instead of Gaza and announced that it is willing to release the seventh group of Palestinian prisoners, whose release process was halted last Saturday, if Hamas stops its 'show of power with hostages.' The Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Tuesday, March 7, that Israel has proposed to intermediary countries that Hamas deliver four bodies of deceased hostages to Egypt by Thursday, after which the identification process would be carried out through DNA testing in Cairo, and upon confirmation, Israel would receive these bodies from Egypt. According to an Egyptian source, the main goal of this proposal is to prevent any official ceremonies by Hamas and the 'show of power' by this terrorist group with hostages who have been in captivity for about 16 months, while Israel is distrustful of Hamas's commitment to not hold such ceremonies. In response, a senior Hamas official stated in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the group will not consider any proposals from Israel until the Palestinian prisoners in the seventh group are released. He added, 'After the release of these hostages, we can discuss proposals related to the next stages of negotiation.' This official also mentioned that discussions are ongoing within Hamas regarding guarantees for the release of subsequent groups of Palestinian prisoners and the conditions of the second phase of the agreement if it is implemented. Last Saturday, Israel postponed the release of about 620 convicted Palestinian prisoners, citing delays in the transfer of the body of Israeli hostage Shari Bibas and the holding of a show by Hamas. During the terrorist attack on October 7 of last year, Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took over 200 hostages. This action by Hamas was met with a response from Israel, which attacked Gaza, the area controlled by this terrorist group. According to Palestinian health officials in the area controlled by Hamas in Gaza, more than 48,000 people have been killed as a result of Israeli attacks so far. This figure does not distinguish between military and civilian casualties. In this context, Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields.