Hamas-led militants released three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli civilian men they held for the past 16 months on Saturday, and Israel was freeing dozens of Palestinian prisoners as part of a fragile agreement that has paused the war in the Gaza Strip, the AP reports. The three were among about 250 people abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war. They appeared to be in much poorer physical condition than any of the other hostages released so far during the ceasefire that began Jan. 19. This was the fifth swap of hostages for prisoners during the ceasefire. Before Saturday, 18 hostages and more than 550 Palestinian prisoners had been freed.
Before a crowd of hundreds, armed Hamas fighters led Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34, onto a stage, where they were forced to make a public statement before being handed over to the Red Cross. Sharabi and Ben Ami were both captured from Kibbutz Beeri, one of the hardest-hit farming communities, during the Hamas-led attack. Levy was abducted from the Nova music festival, where he was taking shelter in a safe room when the militants arrived. The hostages' emaciated condition and the stage-managed ceremony—a departure from previous hostage releases where the captives were not made to speak—sparked outrage in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said "we will not accept the shocking scenes" that played out.
The gaunt appearance of the three hostages "evoke the horrifying pictures from the liberation of the camps in 1945, the darkest chapter of our history," said the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing relatives of most of the captives. "We have to get all of the hostages out of hell. There can be no more delays." The first phase of the ceasefire calls for the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 prisoners, the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory. Last week, wounded Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza for Egypt for the first time since May.
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The current phase of the truce, which runs until early March, does not appear to have been affected by President Trump's stunning proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza, welcomed by Israel but vehemently rejected by the Palestinians and most of the international community. But it could complicate talks over the second and more difficult phase, when Hamas is to release dozens more hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire. Hamas may be reluctant to free more captives—and lose its main bargaining chip—if it believes the US and Israel are serious about depopulating the territory, which rights groups say would violate international law. (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
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