Hamas on Saturday released the last six living hostages expected under the first phase of its ceasefire with Israel with a week remaining, as growing questions over the next phase clouded the fragile deal’s future.
The hostages included three Israeli men seized from the Nova music festival and another taken while visiting family in southern Israel when Hamas-led militants stormed the border in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered Israel’s 16-month military campaign in Gaza.
The two other hostages were held for a decade after entering Gaza on their own.
Five were handed over in staged ceremonies that the Red Cross and Israel have condemned as cruel and disrespectful, escorted by masked, armed Hamas fighters in front of hundreds of Palestinians.
Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen were posed alongside Hamas fighters.
A beaming Shem Tov kissed two militants on the head and blew kisses to the crowd.
Earlier Saturday, Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38, were freed. Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, entered Gaza in 2014. His family told Israeli media he has struggled with mental health issues.
Later, Israel’s military said Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was released. The Bedouin Israeli entered Gaza in 2015. His family has told Israeli media he was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The release of over 600 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel — the largest one-day prisoner release in the ceasefire’s first phase — was delayed, apparently for Israeli security consultations on Saturday evening.
The hostage release followed a heartrending dispute sparked when Hamas on Thursday handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother abducted with her two young boys.
Hamas on Saturday denied Israeli claims it was responsible for the Bibas children’s deaths, calling them lies aimed at justifying Israeli military actions against civilians in Gaza.
