Hamas has handed over four female Israeli soldiers, while 200 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons have been released in the second such exchange under the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.
Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were all stationed at an observation post on the edge of the besieged strip; they were seized by Hamas fighters who overran their base during the attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. A Palestinian source told Reuters that one of the soldiers was being held by Islamic Jihad.
In a clear show of force on Saturday morning, dozens of masked and armed Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants gathered in Palestine Square in Gaza City, where Red Cross vehicles pulled up to carry out the transfer.
The women, wearing khaki-coloured military-style clothing, were walked by Hamas fighters onto the stage, where they gave thumbs-up gestures and peace signs, and smiled and waved at the crowd as thousands cheered.
The women were later transported to Israel by the Israeli military. Crowds of ecstatic supporters gathered at Beilinson-Schneider hospital, just outside Tel Aviv, welcoming the arrival of the four there by helicopter by chanting: “The people of Israel live.”
The director of the hospital later said the medical conditions of the hostages were stable.
Israel then released at least 70 Palestinian prisoners who will not be allowed to return to Gaza or the occupied West Bank, according to Egypt’s state-run TV broadcaster Qahera, which said they had arrived on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.
The remainder of the 200 detainees were met by massive crowds of flag-waving relatives and well-wishers who crowded the buses that came out of Israel’s Ofer prison.
The US State Department has said it is “critical” that the ceasefire holds and all hostages are safely returned to their families.
The department added in a statement: "The United States celebrates the release of the four Israeli hostages held in captivity for 477 days.”
Yusra Hussain, mother of Ahmad Hussain, 48, a prisoner set to be freed on Saturday, said there was confusion among the families over reports some of the detainees would be deported by Israel immediately upon release.
“We can’t believe he will be released until we see him. All we hope for is peace,” she said. In Hostages Square, the rallying point for relatives of the Israeli captives, family members, friends and supporters burst into tears, clapped, and hugged each other as the news broke that the four were free.
Carrying a sign reading “We are waiting for you!” Tamar, who is in the same military unit as the four women, told The Independent they were “smiling from ear to ear” but also worried about the fifth Israeli female soldier, Agam Berger, 20, who remains in Gaza.
Later Ms Albag’s family released a statement saying they felt a “wave of relief and joy” envelop them after “477 long, unbearable days of nerve-wracking waiting.”
Ms Ariev’s family spoke of seeing “her smile that once again fills us with light” while Ms Levy’s family said: “We are overjoyed and moved to see Naama standing strong and returning to us.”
The families also thanked all those who campaigned for the hostages’ freedom and called for the release of the remaining captives. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families, said their release serves “as a painful reminder of the urgency to bring back the 90 hostages still in Gaza”.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office reiterated his government’s commitment to the return of all the hostages and the missing, as he welcomed the release of the four on Saturday.
Meanwhile, crowds gathered around the release point for the Palestinian detainees, anxiously waiting for news. The 200 Palestinian prisoners freed on Saturday as part of the exchange include members of Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), some of whom are serving life sentences for deadly attacks in Israel.
Among those released is one of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Mohammad Al-Tous, 67, who has spent 39 years behind bars according to Palestinian media. Another prisoner released was Mohammed Bargouthi, 25, from near Ramallah. He said he “could not describe my feelings of happiness” after being released in year eight of a nine-year sentence for shooting at settlers.
“I’m standing with my family, my loved ones,” he said. “I hope to free the rest of the prisoners.”
The four Israeli soldiers released on Saturday were captured on 7 October 2023, when Hamas militants stormed southern Israel, taking around 250 hostages and killing more than 1,200 people. That triggered Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza, which Palestinian officials say has killed over 47,000 people and displaced more than 90 per cent of the population.
The four soldiers were taken from the Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when Palestinian militants overran it, killing more than 60 soldiers there. The women had all served in a unit of lookouts charged with monitoring threats along the border.
Following the release of the four on Saturday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Hamas has not abided by the ceasefire agreement to release Israeli civilians first.
A senior Hamas official said the group has informed mediators that civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud will be released next Saturday, after Israel said she was supposed to have been released this Saturday.
The fragile deal – which has so far held, quieting airstrikes and rockets and allowing for increased aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory – is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the militant group.
Meanwhile, president Donald Trump’s White House has instructed the US military to allow the supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, a source told Reuters. The widely expected move comes after the Biden administration had paused due to the possible impact they may have on Gaza.
The latest figures on children in Gaza have also emerged, with UN agencies saying more than 13,000 have been killed, an estimated 25,000 injured and at least 25,000 hospitalised for malnutrition, the Associated Press reported.
