Hamas militants handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday after parading them in front of a crowd. Israel was set to release 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees later in the day as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The four 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. The women were likely acting under duress, reports the AP.
Israel's army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the released hostages—Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19—are "in our hands" and on their way home. In a televised statement Saturday, the AP reports Hagari criticized what he called the "cynical" public display of the young women by Hamas before their release. He also said that 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.
Prime Minister Benjamin 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 until she is freed. Meanwhile, Israel released 70 Palestinian prisoners into Egypt, according to Egypt's state-run Qahera TV, which said they had arrived on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza. Egypt served as a key mediator in more than a year of talks that led to the truce agreement. Many of the 200 Palestinian prisoners set for release on Saturday are to be sent into exile.
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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 US citizens. Another prisoner set to be released is Mohammed Aradeh, 42, an Islamic Jihad militant who become something of a Palestinian folk hero in 2021 along with five other prisoners after they used spoons to tunnel their way out of Israel's most secure prison in an extraordinary escape that stunned Israelis and Palestinians alike.
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