Live TV images showed Hamas handing over four female Israeli soldiers captured in Gaza to the Red Cross, triggering the second ceasefire swap that is set to free hundreds of jailed Palestinian militants. Is.
Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy, all 20, and Liri Albagh, 19, were transferred to a war-torn public square where Hamas had marched, accompanied by masked men, in a show of survival and defiance after 15 months of war. Had lined up. And uniformed gunmen were in sight of flag-waving supporters.
The young women, dressed in khakis resembling military uniforms, were led to a makeshift stage decorated with anti-Israel slogans. Smiling, they waved to the whistling crowd and gave a thumbs-up sign before being transported in Red Cross jeeps, and soon they were in Israeli hands.
The four were working as unarmed soldiers in a spotter unit when they were suddenly captured during a Hamas cross-border raid on October 7, 2023, sparking what is now a regional conflict.
Video of the incident showed them bloodied and stunned as they were taken away in their pajamas – among about 250 people, mostly civilians, taken hostage, while another 1,200 were killed in the bloodiest day in Israel’s history. were killed.
After being handed over Saturday, the former captives were just a short distance from the Israeli border, with family reunification and medical evaluation awaiting them.
More than 47,000 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Most of the impoverished enclave’s 2 million Palestinians have been displaced and their infrastructure devastated.
Under a ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and Egypt overseen by Washington, Israel will release 200 jailed Palestinians in exchange for four soldiers. Many of the prisoners were serving life sentences for the deadly attacks, and some of them would be deported to Qatar or Türkiye at Israel’s insistence.
The first exchange of the deal, in which three civilian female hostages were exchanged for 90 low-level Palestinian detainees, took place on 19 January. Hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners are to be released, along with 26 other female, elderly or infirm hostages. Part of an initial six-week ceasefire. Many are believed to have died in captivity.
Freeing the remaining hostages may depend on discussing a deal to actually end the war – something Israel has refused to consider as long as Hamas remains in power. Egypt is hosting parallel talks on possible power-sharing between Hamas and the rival Palestinian faction.
(TagstoTranslate)World(T)Israel(T)Bloomberg(T)Hamas
