CNN —
Days after Israel failed to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for six hostages held in Gaza, the government has agreed to a new exchange, according to an Israeli source and Hamas, indicating the fragile ceasefire remains in tact for now.
The Egyptian-brokered agreement between Hamas and Israel will see the exchange of the final four bodies of hostages due to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal for the 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees that should have been freed last Saturday, according to the Israeli source. Among the detainees are 23 children and one woman.
Israel had delayed their release in protest of what it said is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas and demanding guarantees that future hostage releases would take place without “humiliating ceremonies.”
Advocates for Palestinians prisoners and detainees, in turn, have expressed repeated concerns about the delay, and Israel’s treatment of those held in detention. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says 69 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli detention since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, of whom 38 were detained in Gaza.
Hamas released six Israeli hostages from Gaza on Saturday in two public ceremonies and one private transfer, in what was the final return of living hostages in the first phase of a ceasefire deal that began last month.
Hamas accused Israel of violating the truce with the delay, casting some uncertainty over the precarious ceasefire deal, and said talks on a second phase would not be possible until they are freed.
Hamas confirmed that an agreement with Israel had been made through Egyptian mediators, but did not specify how many Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and detainees would be released.
An Egyptian official confirmed the agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached, according to a statement by the Egyptian government’s media office.
The Israeli official confirmed to CNN that the release of the remains of four hostages held in Gaza could happen as early as Wednesday evening.
Hamas and its allies continue to hold 63 hostages in Gaza. At least 32 of those are believed to be dead, according to the Israeli government – one of whom, the soldier Hadar Goldin, has been held since 2014.
The 42-day truce between Israel and Hamas is set to expire this weekend unless an agreement is struck to extend it. The two sides were meant to begin talks on a permanent end to the war in early February, but those discussions have not begun yet.
The latest agreement between Israel and Hamas came as mourners in southern Israel lined the streets ahead of a funeral Wednesday for Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Kfir and Ariel, who were taken hostage in the October 7 Hamas-led attack and killed in Gaza.
Their bodies were returned to Israel last week under the ceasefire arrangement.
The Bibas family invited the public to gather along the funeral route to pay their respects to the two children and their mother ahead of a private ceremony near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel.
At just nine months, Kfir was the youngest person kidnapped and held hostage in Gaza. Along with his brother, Ariel, who was four, they became prominent symbols of the plight of the hostages held in Gaza throughout the war.
Their father Yarden Bibas, who was also taken hostage, was released on February 1 after 484 days of captivity as part of the ceasefire agreement.
The return of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel’s bodies last week caused much pain and consternation in Israel after the remains of Kfir and Ariel were returned without their mother, as promised, but rather with the body of an unidentified Palestinian woman – a development which threatened to derail the fragile ceasefire agreement.
Shiri’s remains were later returned to Israel.
Crowds gathered along the funeral route held Israeli and yellow flags, symbolizing the campaign to bring the hostages home, as a procession for the two young boys and their mother passed.
“We are accompanied by the people of Israel in droves,” the Bibas family said in a statement shared by the Israeli hostage families forum. “We see and hear you” and “are moved and strengthened by you,” it said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Mostafa Salem and Helen Regan contributed to this report.