Hamas has handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages—Shlomo Mansour, 86, Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgarat, 69—in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners. Israel is conducting DNA tests to confirm their identities.

Axar.az reports that the release marks the final exchange under the first phase of a ceasefire deal set to expire on Saturday.

The Palestinian prisoners include over 400 Gazans detained during the war and 50 serving life sentences. They were released from Israeli prisons, including Ofer and Ketziot, and welcomed by large crowds in the West Bank and Gaza.

Hamas privately transferred the bodies to avoid delays, following a previous incident where the wrong body was handed over. The exchange follows tensions over Israel’s accusation that Hamas mistreated hostages during previous handovers, which delayed prisoner releases.

The hostage-for-prisoner swap comes amid uncertainty over whether the ceasefire will extend to a second phase, which would involve the release of all remaining living hostages in Gaza. Talks for this phase have yet to begin.

Meanwhile, thousands in Israel attended the funeral of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, who were among the hostages killed in Gaza.