Four female Israeli soldiers taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October 2023 have been released as part of a ceasefire agreement, which also saw 200 Palestinian prisoners freed.
Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag, all aged between 19 and 20, were released to the Red Cross in Gaza City during a heavily choreographed handover involving dozens of Hamas gunmen.
However, Israel accuses Hamas of breaching the terms of the truce because the female civilian hostage Arbel Yehud was not part of Saturday’s release and delayed the planned return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza. Hamas claims that it will release the hostage next weekend. It did not provide any detailed information about it.
According to reports, Israel has released the Palestinian prisoners, but 70 of them were deported immediately to neighboring countries through Egypt as their offenses were grave. Some will be resettled in Gaza, while others will be granted permission to return to their homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The swap on Saturday was the second exchange since a ceasefire occurred on 19 January. Three hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners were released in the first swap a week ago. Saturday’s event in Palestine Square, Gaza City, was highly choreographed by Hamas, unlike last weekend’s chaotic handover.
The four hostages emerged from cars and were ushered by masked gunmen to a stage erected in the square, where moments before, a Red Cross official had sat at a desk to sign documents with a Hamas fighter.
The hostages and the masked gunmen wore lanyards around their necks containing laminated ID badges, each bearing his sort of accreditation for the event. The stage was set up with a desk and flags, symbols of bureaucracy – but alongside the platform was a machine gun.
The four Israeli women were seen waving, smiling, and holding hands as crowds of Hamas gunmen and Palestinian civilians looked on. Hamas – which issued each hostage a bag of provisions to take back to Israel – will hope the carefully constructed photographs convey order as well as might.
The intended audience probably addressed both Palestinians looking to run Gaza someday and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had vowed in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks to “destroy” the group.
There was a huge relief for Israelis who found out that another four hostages, who were reunited with their families shortly after being freed, were safe.
