The Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas on Saturday released the second batch of Israeli hostages, four women who were taken in by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City. Israeli authorities also released 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.
Local eyewitnesses said dozens of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters handed over four hostages to the ICRC in Palestine Square in Gaza City.
Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy were handed over to the ICRC in Gaza, Hamas said in a press statement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) confirmed the release of four hostages from among Israeli soldiers. In a joint statement, they said that the ICRC had communicated with the Israeli side about the handover of the Hamas hostages, who, according to the organisation, were "on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip".
Four Israeli army observers aged 19-20 were abducted by Hamas from the Israeli army observation base in Nahal Oz on 7 October 2023 near the Gaza Strip border.
The army said they were reunited with their families soon after and will be transferred to a hospital in central Israel, the Israeli Health Ministry said.
The handover of the Hamas hostages to the ICRC in Gaza was broadcast live on Israel's state-run Kan TV News and other leading Israeli and international media. The four who were injured in the kidnapping appeared to be in good health, walking and smiling.
This release of hostages is part of the second phase of the prisoner and hostage exchange between Hamas and Israel, carried out under the original terms of the ceasefire agreement.
Israeli authorities also released 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.
The first phase of the six-week ceasefire entered into force on 19 January. In the first six-week phase of the agreement, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, elderly men and the sick and wounded, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, while Israeli forces withdraw from some of their positions in the Gaza Strip.
The ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel was reached after 15 months of intense fighting as a result of negotiations mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
After Saturday's release, 90 hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities, about a third of whom have been declared dead in absentia.
CMG/ gnews - RoZ
PHOTO - Xinhua/ Adul Rahman Salama
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