Hamas releases four Israeli hostages in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners

Four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were driven away from Gaza City’s central Palestine Square in International Red Cross vehicles on Saturday morning.

They had spent more than 15 months in captivity.

Crowds of Gazans who had gathered in the central square in Gaza City watched as the hostages were released and put into the vehicles.

Before they were released a Red Cross delegate, sitting at a desk in view of the crowd and the media in the square, signed unidentified documents alongside a Hamas fighter.

Then, minutes later, the four were taken by Hamas gunmen up onto a stage where they waved to the crowd and the media.

Israeli army doctors later said the four didn’t need any immediate medical treatment.

The release of the four comes just a few days into a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and is part of a long and uncertain process aimed at eventually ending the war.

The soldiers were captured by Hamas fighters from Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when they overran it on October 7 2023, killing more than 60 soldiers there. The female abductees had all served in a unit of lookouts charged with monitoring threats along the border.

A fifth female soldier in their unit, Agam Berger, 20, was abducted with them but not included in the release. Video of the abduction of the five female soldiers was widely circulated.

Israel and Hamas have agreed in the ceasefire’s first phase to a gradual release of 33 hostages in Gaza, in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Three hostages were released previously during this truce in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails

Later on Saturday Israeli authorities said they had released 200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the ceasefire deal.

The more notorious militants being released include Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Qassim, 54, both from east Jerusalem. They were accused of carrying out a series of deadly Hamas attacks against Israelis, including a bombing at a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2002 that killed nine people, including five U.S. citizens.

Another prisoner set to be released is Mohammed Aradeh, 42, an Islamic Jihad militant, who become something of a Palestinian folk hero in 2021 along with five other prisoners after they used spoons to tunnel their way out of Israel’s most secure prison in an extraordinary escape that stunned Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Also on Saturday, Israel said it will not allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza until Arbel Yehoud, one of the dozens of hostages held by Hamas, is released.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Yehoud was supposed to have been released on Saturday as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Some 250 people were kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered 15 months of war. More than 90 hostages remain in Gaza, although at least a third are believed to be dead. The others were released, rescued, or their bodies were recovered.

Israel’s military campaign has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters but says more than half were women or children.

?Who are the four hostages

Liri Albag was featured in a video Hamas released in early January, filmed under duress. Her family said the video was “difficult to watch” because of Albag’s clear emotional distress. They were particularly active in the protest movement pushing for a deal with Hamas to bring the hostages home.

“Liri, if you’re hearing us, tell the others that all the families are moving heaven and earth and want their children home, and we will fight until all hostages are returned,” her father said in a statement after the video was released.

Just before Karina Ariev was kidnapped, she she sent a message to her family, saying: “If I don’t live, take care of mom and dad all their lives. Don’t give up, live,” according to Israeli media. Her family said she loves to cook, sing, dance and write poetry.

In January 2024, she was featured in a video along with Gilboa and Doron Steinbrecher, who was released last weekend.

After the kidnapping, her parents changed her name from Danielle to Daniella, a Jewish tradition that is believed to bring God’s protection.

In video of the kidnapping, Gilboa seems to have a foot injury as she is forced into the jeep that took her to Gaza.

Gilboa, from Petah Tikva, a suburb of Tel Aviv, played piano and studied music in high school. She dreams of being a singer, according to Israeli media.

The footage from Levy’s kidnapping, in which she is wearing grey sweatpants covered in blood, was shown around the world.

Levy is a triathlete. When she was younger, she participated in the “Hands of Peace” delegation, which brings together Americans, Israelis and Palestinians to work on coexistence.