TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Four female Israeli soldiers who had been held hostage by Hamas returned safely to Israel Saturday after the militants paraded them in front of a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and then handed them over to the Red Cross. In exchange, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The four Israelis smiled broadly as they waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage in Gaza City’s Palestine Square, militants on either side of them and a crowd of thousands watching before they were led off to waiting Red Cross vehicles. They were likely acting under duress, with previously released hostages saying they were held in brutal conditions and forced to record propaganda videos.
Israel’s Prison Service later said it had completed the release of 200 Palestinians. They included 121 who had been serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. Around 70 were released into Egypt, according to Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV. Egypt had served as a key mediator in the talks that led to the truce.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah to celebrate the arrival of buses carrying the prisoners. Many waved Palestinian flags or the flags of different political factions.
Israeli soldier hostages Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev and Liri Albag, in no particular order, salute a Palestinian crowd before being handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza City, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Abed Hajjar)
via Associated Press
An Israeli military helicopter, carrying the four Israeli female soldier released from Gaza, arrives to the Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
via Associated Press
As the four Israelis were released, hundreds of people cheered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square where they were watching the drama unfold on a big screen television.
“I had goosebumps watching them,” said Aviv Bercovich, one of the onlookers. “I just want the war to end.”
The freed hostages were taken to an Israeli army base, where they were reunited with their parents, and could be seen in pictures hugging them emotionally.
As they arrived by helicopter to a Tel Aviv hospital, thousands of people dancing and celebrating outside outside looked up to see them land.
Israel insists on the release of a civilian hostage
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said Israel would not allow displaced Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza, which had been expected to begin by Sunday, because a civilian hostage who was supposed to be released by Hamas had not been freed.
It said Israel would not allow Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza, which had been expected to begin by Sunday, until Arbel Yehoud was freed.
A senior Hamas official said the group has informed mediators that Yehoud will be released next week.