Hamas militants released four captive female Israeli soldiers in exchange for the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners by Israel. The event marks a significant step in the fragile ceasefire agreement between the warring factions.
Hamas militants released four captive female Israel i soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday after parading them in front of a crowd. Israel followed with the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The four Israeli soldiers smiled broadly as they waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage in Gaza City’s Palestine Square, militants on either side of them and a crowd of thousands watching before they were led off to waiting Red Cross vehicles. They were likely acting under duress, with previously released hostages 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 include 120 who had been serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. Around 70 were released into Egypt, according to Egypt's state-run Qahera TV. Egypt had served as a key mediator in the talks that led to the truce. Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah to celebrate the arrival of buses carrying the prisoners. Many waved Palestinian flags or the flags of different political factions. \The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Albag, 19, were captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. In exchange, Israel agreed to release 200 prisoners, including 121 who were serving life sentences, according to a list released by Hamas. The four Israeli soldiers released were taken from Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when Palestinian militants overran it, killing more than 60 soldiers there. The female abductees had all served in a unit of lookouts charged with monitoring threats along the border. A fifth female soldier in their unit, Agam Berger, 20, was abducted with them but not included in the list. The more notorious militants being released 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 U.S. citizens. Of the 70 who were expelled to Egypt, some may eventually go to other countries, with Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey all expressing a willingness to take them in, according to Abdullah al-Zaghari, the head of a Palestinian prisoner advocacy group. \Netanyahu's office later said that Arbel Yehoud, a civilian hostage held by Hamas, was supposed to have been released Saturday. It said Israel would not allow Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza, which had been expected to begin by Sunday, until she is freed. A senior Hamas official said the group has informed mediators that Yehoud will be released next week. As the four Israeli soldiers were released, hundreds of people cheered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square where they were watching the drama unfold on a big screen television. 'I’m speechless,' said Aviv Bercovich, one of the onlookers. 'I had goosebumps watching them. I just want the war to end.' 'This is huge,' said Gaza City resident Radwan Abu Rawiya, one of thousands who watched the hostages turned over in Palestine Square. 'People forgot about the war, destruction and are celebrating,' he said. Israel had been expected to begin pulling back from the Netzarim corridor — an east-west road dividing Gaza in two — and allowing displaced Palestinians in the south to return to their former homes in the north for the first time since the beginning of the war. But that appears to be on hold pending the release of Yehoud. The Hamas-run interior ministry said earlier said that displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to northern Gaza starting Sunday. The ministry, which oversees police forces, said Palestinians will be able to move between southern and northern Gaza on foot through the coastal Rashid road. What happens after the deal’s initial six-week phase 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 of famine. The conflict began with a cross-border attack led by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 others hostage. More than 100 hostages were freed in a weeklong truce the following month. But dozens have remained in captivity for over a year with no contact with the outside world. Israel believes at least a third of the more than 90 captives still inside Gaza were killed in the initial attack or died in captivity
HAMAS ISRAEL PRISONER EXCHANGE CEASEFIRE GAZA HOSTAGES PALESTINIAN PRISONERS ISRAELI SOLDIERS MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT
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