Hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails arrive at the European hospital in Gaza as Israel releases the remaining 642 Palestinian detainees scheduled to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

    Emotional scenes in the occupied West Bank as dozens of Palestinian prisoners who had been serving life and long sentences reunite with their families. Israel deports 97 others to Egypt.

    Earlier, Hamas handed over the bodies of four captives to Israel via the Red Cross. Israel says the identification process for the captives is under way.

    Gaza’s Health Ministry has confirmed 48,348 Palestinian deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza, while 111,761 people have been wounded. The Government Media Office updated its death toll to at least 61,709, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.

    Netanyahu ‘feels humiliated’ that Hamas is still standing

    Antony Loewenstein, a journalist and author, says he’s nervous about the next stages of the ceasefire deal after the latest exchange of captives and bodies.

    “I’m nervous about the next stages, because of lots of reporting in the Israeli press of Netanyahu and people around him having no interest in actually continuing to phase two, let alone phase three,” Loewenstein told Al Jazeera.

    “Of course, phase three, at the end of this, should be a complete removal of any kind of Israeli forces from Gaza,” he said.

    “I’m glad this exchange has happened,” Loewenstein added. “But, I think Netanyahu, frankly, feels humiliated that Hamas is still standing, they still have fighters, they still have a presence, they still control huge amounts of Gaza.

    “And when an empire is upset,” he added, “they lash out in an incredibly violent and unrealistic way.”

    “That’s what we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan for 20 years, and that’s what I feel we might see in Gaza and elsewhere in the months and years ahead.”

    Palestinian boy meets father for first time following prisoner release

    We have been reporting on joyous scenes in the occupied West Bank over recent hours after Israeli authorities began releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire deal.

    At one reunion in the city of Jenin, footage published by the Quds News Network shows freed prisoner Louay Saabneh meeting his son Jabal for the first time after several years of incarceration.

    Will Netanyahu and his right-wing government agree to a second phase?

    Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, says it’s in Netanyahu’s political interest to advance the Gaza ceasefire deal into a second phase.

    But the Israeli prime minister will make it “look as difficult as he can make it look”, Goldberg told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.

    “That way, he will be pulling a classic Netanyahu manoeuvre, and attempting to cater to the desires and whims of both the hard-right – he needs to maintain a right-wing government – but also to the Israeli centre, which at least as far as the hostages are concerned, is quite vociferous and quite adamant that they should all be released before any other options are concerned.”

    Goldberg said Netanyahu also knows that once “he goes into phase two, the ability to scale it back and resume war is practically negligible”.

    The commentator also dismissed Trump’s posting of an AI-generated video that shows the “Trump Gaza” beach resort in Gaza.

    “I think we need to wait for the Arab League summit on March 4, where the Arab plan will be presented. I understand there’s already dissenting voices that think the Arab plan sells out to the US and Israel. That’s to be expected,” he said.

    “Nothing is going to be perfect. No shiny solution is going to be pulled out of a magic box. Everything is going to seem difficult. Everything is going to be delayed with obstacles, but the only way forward is the resumption of the deal. The war is becoming less and less of an option for Israel, with every day passing.”