Four Israeli soldiers who had been held by Hamas returned safely to Israel on Saturday after the militants paraded them in front of a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and then handed them over to the Red Cross. In exchange, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The four Israelis smiled widely as they waved and gave the thumbs up to a stage in Gaza City's Palestine Square, militants on either side of them and a crowd of thousands watching before they were taken to Red Cross vehicles. that they expected. They were likely acting under duress, with hostages previously reported saying they were held in brutal conditions and forced to record propaganda videos.
Israel's prison service later said it had completed the release of 200 Palestinians. They included 121 who had been serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. About 70 were freed in Egypt, according to Egypt's state-run Qahera Television. Egypt had served as a key mediator in the talks that led to the truce.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the occupied city of Ramallah to celebrate the arrival of buses carrying prisoners. Many waving Palestinian flags or the flags of different political factions.
When the four Israelis were released, hundreds of people cheered in Tel Aviv's hostage square, where they were watching the drama unfold on a big-screen television.
“I had goosebumps watching them,” said Aviv Bercovich, one of the spectators. “I just want the war to end.”
The freed hostages were taken to an Israeli army base, where they were reunited with their parents, and could be seen in images emotionally embracing them.
When they arrived by helicopter at a Tel Aviv hospital, thousands of people dancing and celebrating outside looked up to see them land.
Israel insists on releasing a civilian hostage
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office later said Israel would not allow displaced Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza, which was expected to begin before Sunday, because a civilian hostage who was supposed to be freed by Hamas had not been released.
He said Israel would not allow Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza, which was expected to begin before Sunday, until Arbel Yehoud was freed.
A senior Hamas official said the group has informed mediators that Yehoud will be released next week.
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Meanwhile, an Egyptian official involved in the negotiations called the matter a “minor issue” that mediators are working to resolve. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
It was the second such exchange between Israel and Hamas since a ceasefire began on the Gaza Strip last weekend. The excitement in Israel was palpable, with television stations filled with live reports from smiling news anchors and reporters interviewing ecstatic friends and family of the hostages.
The truce is aimed at ending the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the militant group. So far, the fragile agreement has held, silencing airstrikes and rockets and allowing more aid to flow into the small coastal territory.
When the ceasefire began on Sunday, three militants' hostages were freed in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children.
Who are the soldiers and prisoners who are released?
The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Albag, 19, were captured in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that ignited the war.
In exchange, Israel agreed to release 200 prisoners, including 121 who were serving life sentences, according to a list published by Hamas.
The most notorious militants being launched include Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Qassim, 54, both from East Jerusalem. They were accused of carrying out a series of deadly Hamas attacks against Israelis, including a bombing at a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2002 that killed nine people, including five American citizens.
Of the 70 who were expelled to Egypt, some may eventually go to other countries, with Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey expressing a willingness to take them, according to Abdullah al-Zaghari, the head of a Palestinian prisoner advocacy group.
The four freed Israeli soldiers were taken from the Nahal Oz base near the Gaza border when Palestinian militants overran it, killing more than 60 soldiers there. A fifth female soldier in their unit, Agam Berger, 20, was kidnapped with them but not included on the list.
“This is huge,” said Gaza City resident Radwan Abu Rawiya, one of thousands who watched the hostages handed over in Palestine Square.
“People forgot about the war, the destruction and are celebrating,” he said.
In a televised statement, Israel's army spokesman, Admiral Daniel Hagari, criticized what he called the “cynical” public display of young Hamas women before their launch.
He also said Israel is concerned about the fate of the two youngest hostages, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, and their mother Shiri. Kfir Bibas marked his second birthday in captivity earlier this month.
Hagari said the military is committed to bringing all hostages home.
What's next in the ceasefire agreement?
Israel was expected to open the Netzarim corridor, an east-west highway dividing Gaza in two, and allow displaced Palestinians in the south to return to their former homes in the north for the first time since the start of the war.
But that appears to be on hold pending Yehoud's release.
The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said earlier that displaced Palestinians will be able to return to northern Gaza starting Sunday.
What happens after the initial six-week phase of the deal is uncertain, but many hope it will lead to the end of a war that has leveled wide swaths of Gaza, displaced the vast majority of its population and left hundreds of thousands of people at risk risk risk. famine.
The conflict began with a Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 other hostages.
More than 100 hostages were freed in a week-long truce the following month. But dozens have remained in captivity for more than a year without contact with the outside world. Israel believes that at least a third of the more than 90 captives still inside Gaza were killed in the initial attack or died in captivity.
While many rejoiced in Tel Aviv's hostage square after the four soldiers were freed on Saturday, some worried about the fate of those still in captivity.
“It's hard that she's still there,” said Yoni Collins, a family friend of Berger, the fifth female soldier taken from the Nahal Oz base.
“There were five girls, four are outside and now she's there alone,” he said. “We're waiting for her to come home.”
Israel's air and ground war, one of the deadliest and most destructive in decades, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not say how many were militants. They say women and children account for more than half of the deaths.