625 Palestinian prisoners set to be freed from Israeli jails

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas will return the bodies of four Israeli hostages on Wednesday night, with Israel expected to free more than 600 Palestinian prisoners in exchange, the group said.The swap will be the final one under the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal that went into effect on January 19.Mediator the United States said efforts were underway to secure a second phase of the deal, whose complexity and drawn-out implementation have highlighted its fragility.Hamas's armed wing said Wednesday that under the "framework of the deal, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades has decided to hand over the bodies of four hostages tonight".A Hamas official said that in return, Israel would release 625 Palestinian prisoners.The official also said the return of the four bodies "will take place without public presence to prevent the occupation from finding any pretext for delay or obstruction".Israel confirmed the handover was set for Wednesday night.The ceasefire has largely halted the war and has seen 25 hostages released alive so far in exchange for more than 1,100 prisoners.In Washington, President Donald Trump's top envoy to the Middle East said Israeli representatives were en route to talks on the next phase of the ceasefire."We're making a lot of progress. Israel is sending a team right now as we speak," Steve Witkoff said."It's either going to be in Doha or in Cairo, where negotiations will begin again with the Egyptians and the Qataris."The first phase of the deal is supposed to end on Saturday.Hamas has said it is ready to release all the remaining hostages "in one go" during the second phase.