In Gaza, Hamas has returned the bodies of four hostages to Israeli authorities ahead of the planned release this weekend of six living hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian captives held in Israeli jails. Hamas says the four hostages were killed along with their guards by Israeli airstrikes. They include a mother and her two children, and Oded Lifschitz, an Israeli journalist and peace activist. Before his capture on October 7, 2023, Lifschitz volunteered with the Road to Recovery organization, which transports Palestinian children who are ill to hospitals in Israel. He once met with the late Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat and previously fought a successful legal campaign to restore ancestral land to Palestinian Bedouin villagers.