The Israeli military says the sixth and final hostage has been released by Hamas in the latest exchange on Saturday and has arrived back in Israel.
The hostage was not immediately identified but is expected to be Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, a Bedouin Israeli with a history of mental health illness, who crossed on his own into Gaza in 2015 and had been held since.
Five of the hostages were released earlier Saturday in staged ceremonies that both Israel and the Red Cross have condemned in the past.
The last one was released separately on Saturday afternoon without a ceremony.
A total of 25 Israeli hostages were released in the first stage of the ceasefire.
The latest releases, to be followed by the freeing of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, are going ahead after tensions mounted over a grisly and heart-wrenching dispute triggered this week when Hamas initially handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two young boys abducted by militants.
The remains that Hamas transferred with her sons’ bodies on Thursday were later determined to be those of an unidentified Palestinian woman.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for “a cruel and malicious violation,” while Hamas suggested it had been a mistake.
On Friday night, the small militant group believed to have been holding Bibas and her sons — the Palestinian Mujahedeen Brigades — handed over a second body. Bibas’ family said Israeli forensic authorities had confirmed the remains were hers.
“For 16 months we sought certainty, and now that it’s here, it brings no comfort, though we hope it marks the beginning of closure,” the family said.
Difficult negotiations likely over the ceasefire’s next phase
The ceasefire deal has paused the war but is nearing the end of its first phase.
Negotiations over a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens more hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal, are likely to be even more difficult.
The six hostages being freed Saturday are the last living ones to be released under the first phase.
