Hamas releases four female Israeli hostages in second swap

GAZA (Reuters): The Palestinian group in Gaza, Hamas, handed four female Israeli soldier hostages over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza on Saturday, releasing them in return for some 200 Palestinian prisoners.

The four hostages were led onto a podium in Gaza City amid a large crowd of Palestinians and surrounded by dozens of armed Hamas men. They waved and smiled before being led off, entering ICRC vehicles, and being transported to Israeli forces.

The Israeli military said it had received the four in Gaza. They are being released in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners under a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the 15-month-old war in Gaza.

The four soldiers – Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag – were all stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza and were taken into custody by Hamas fighters who overran their base during the attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023.

After being reunited with their family at an Israeli military base near the Gaza border, the released hostages will be taken to a hospital in central Israel, the Israeli Health Ministry said.

Hamas said 200 prisoners will be freed on Saturday as part of the exchange. They include convicts serving life sentences for their involvement in attacks. Around 70 are set to be deported, Hamas said.

Saturday’s planned exchange will be the second since a ceasefire began on Sunday and Hamas handed over three Israeli female civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.

The ceasefire agreement worked out after months of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, has halted the fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in November 2023.