Israel has released the final batch of Palestinian prisoners to be freed in the first phase of the multistage ceasefire agreement with Hamas, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched a team of negotiators to Cairo for more talks on the fragile truce.

The release of 641 prisoners on Thursday, including more than 450 who arrived in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip, took place following yet another Israeli delay and after Hamas handed over the remains of four Israeli captives.

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Released Palestinian prisoner Mohammed Abu Amsha, who arrived in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Thursday, said he faced horrific conditions while in detention and that he received only one meal each day, which was “very bad”.

“They used to beat and humiliate us. Sick people got no medical treatment. There were a lot of skin diseases in prisons and we did not get to change the clothes since the first day of our detention,” Abu Amsha told Al Jazeera.

In the first phase of the ceasefire that took effect last month, Israel has released more than 2,000 prisoners and detainees in exchange for 25 living captives and the remains of eight others who had been held in Gaza.

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Israel’s relentless bombardment of the territory was paused and Israeli troops withdrew from some positions in Gaza, but Israeli forces have continued to violate the ceasefire, with troops killing 17 people in the past 48 hours, according to Palestinian health officials.

The humanitarian protocol of phase one of the ceasefire has also not been implemented.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from the Jordanian capital Amman, said Israel “hasn’t allowed enough humanitarian assistance in the form of tents, mobile homes, and the like”.

Israeli delegation to Cairo

The initial phase is due to expire on Friday, and it is not clear whether talks have begun on a second phase that includes securing the release of the remaining captives and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Israeli authorities believe fewer than half of the 59 captives still held in Gaza are alive.

Following the exchange on Thursday, Israel announced it was sending a delegation to the Egyptian capital for talks with mediators.

Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Jerusalem the delegation would travel to Egypt to see whether there was common ground to negotiate an extension to the first phase of the truce.

“We said we are ready to make the framework longer in return to release more hostages. If it is possible, we’ll do that.”

Two government officials said that Israel was seeking to extend the initial phase, with Hamas freeing three captives each week in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel.

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It is not clear what would happen beyond Saturday if the first phase of the ceasefire expires with no agreement on a second phase. Egypt and Qatar are mediating between Israel and Hamas, with the backing of the United States.

Talks over the second phase, intended to secure a permanent end to Israel’s war on Gaza, were meant to start earlier this month.

Israel’s government is under public pressure to extend the ceasefire and secure the release of the remaining captives, while some officials within the far-right government want to return to war.

Hamas said on Thursday it was ready to begin talks on the second phase and that the only way remaining captives in Gaza would be freed is through commitment to the ceasefire.

But later on Thursday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen told public broadcaster Kan that Israel demanded that the military stay in the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs the length of Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.

Israeli troops are supposed to start withdrawing from the Gaza-Egypt border area on Saturday.

More than 48,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian health officials. The war has laid waste to the crowded coastal enclave and displaced the majority of its population multiple times.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed at least 1,139 people while approximately 250 others were taken captive.