Israeli military confirms receiving women hostages from Hamas
The four Israeli women hostages freed by Hamas as part of a Saturday swap are now in the custody of Israeli forces in Gaza, the military said in a statement.
“The four returning hostages are currently being accompanied by IDF (military) special forces and ISA (Shin Bet security agency) forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment,” the military said.
Hamas militants handed the hostages over to the Red Cross under a truce deal in the Gaza war that is also expected to see a second group of Palestinian prisoners freed.
An AFP journalist witnessed the handover after the four were presented on a stage at a main square in Gaza City, where dozens of masked, armed militants had gathered earlier.
Four Red Cross vehicles had arrived ahead of the handover.
The fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, gathered in rows, many carrying their groups’ banners and wearing green headbands, as crowds of Gaza residents gathered to watch.
Israel confirmed Friday that it had received a list of the hostages’ names.
On Saturday, Palestinian sources said Israel is to free 200 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages.
According to the Israeli Hostage and Missing Families Forum, a campaign group, the women released are Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy — all aged 20 — and Liri Albag, 19.
They had been held captive for more than 15 months, since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
READ ALSO:
Ceasefire: Israel frees 90 Palestinian prisoners for three Hamas hostages
Palestinians displaced by the war to southern Gaza should be able to begin returning to the north following Saturday’s releases, Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau based in Qatar, told AFP on Friday.
The truce has also led to a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into rubble-strewn Gaza but Israel’s UN ambassador on Friday confirmed that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Gaza’s main aid agency, must end all operations in Israel by Thursday.
The hostage-prisoner exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday, and which is intended to pave the way to a permanent end to the war.
Mediators Qatar and the United States announced the agreement days ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Trump has since claimed credit for securing the deal after months of fruitless negotiations.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said on Telegram Friday that “as part of the prisoners’ exchange deal, the Qassam brigades decided to release tomorrow four women soldiers”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed it had received the names through mediators.
AFP
