KEY POINTS
- Hamas releases four female Israeli soldier hostages, while Israel frees 200 Palestinian prisoners.
- Thousands of Palestinians celebrate the arrival of released prisoners.
- Israel blocks displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza.
- Israeli bombardments since October 7, 2023, have killed over 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
CAIRO, Egypt: Hamas released four female Israeli soldier hostages on Saturday, while Israel freed 200 Palestinian prisoners as part of the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal aimed at ending more than 15 months of Israeli bombardments that have killed over 47,000 Palestinians.
Hamas handed over the four hostage Israeli soldiers to the International Committee of the Red Cross officials in Palestine Square in Gaza City.
The four hostages were led onto a podium in Gaza City amid a large crowd of Palestinians and surrounded by dozens of Hamas men. They waved and smiled before being led off, entering ICRC vehicles and being transported to Israeli forces.
Hamas identified the four female Israeli soldiers as Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag.
Later on Saturday, Israel said 200 Palestinians were released from its jails, within the scope of the second exchange with Hamas under the truce deal sealed earlier in the month.
Israel’s Prison Service said it had completed the release of 200 Palestinians. They included 121 who had been serving life sentences. 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.
Buses carrying released Palestinian prisoners were seen departing from the Israeli Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank, soon after the captives were freed.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah to celebrate the arrival of buses carrying the prisoners. They were waving Palestinian flags.
The freed Israeli hostages were taken to an Israeli army base, where they were reunited with their parents.
Israel blocks Palestinians’ return
Meanwhile, Israel blocked the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in northern Gaza, linking the restriction to the release of hostage, Arbel Yehud, who remains in Hamas custody.
“Israel will not allow the passage of Gazans to the northern part of the Gaza Strip until the release of civilian Arbel Yehud is arranged,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, “Hamas did not comply with the ceasefire agreement on its obligation to return civilian females first.”
Two Hamas sources, as cited by AFP, said that Yehud was “alive and in good health”. AFP cited a Hamas source as saying that she will be “released as part of the third swap set for next Saturday”, February 1.
Meantime, an Egyptian official involved in the negotiations called the matter a “minor issue” that mediators are working to resolve.
Gaza ceasefire deal
It was the second such exchange between Israel and Hamas since a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip last weekend.
The truce is aimed at ending the deadliest and most destructive Israeli military campaign in Gaza. The fragile deal has so far held, quieting Israeli airstrikes and rockets and allowing for increased aid to flow into the devastated Palestinian territory.
When the ceasefire started Sunday, three hostages held by Hamas were released in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children.
What’s next in truce deal
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.
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But that appears to be on hold pending the release of Yehoud.
The Gaza interior ministry earlier said that displaced Palestinians will return to northern Gaza starting Sunday.
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 levelled wide swaths of Gaza, displaced the vast majority of its population and left hundreds of thousands of people at risk of famine.
Israel’s air and ground offensive, one of the deadliest and most destructive in decades, has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
