Three Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza were released from captivity on Saturday, in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Yarden Bibas, 34, Ofer Kalderon, 53, and Keith Siegel, 65, were handed over to the Red Cross – the latest hostages to be released as part of a ceasefire deal struck last month.
Palestinian prisoners were taken in buses to Gaza and the West Bank, many of them coming from the nearby Ofer prison.
Saturday’s release was more orderly but retained the presentational elements that sought to project that Hamas remains the governing force in Gaza.
Lines of armed fighters kept crowds at bay, while the men who were released were flanked by more armed and masked fighters. A banner behind them bore the images of killed Hamas leaders.
Officials from the Red Cross signed certificates of release for Mr. Kalderon and Mr Bibas, who were then made to hold them as they waved to the crowd in Khan Younis.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described Mr. Bibas’s return as “simply heartbreaking”, saying his country remained “deeply concerned” about their fate. “As an entire nation we hold them in our hearts,” he wrote.
In Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, buses of freed Palestinian prisoners were met by large and jubilant crowds.
A majority of the prisoners were held on what Israel calls “administrative detention” – what critics say is imprisonment without charge. Some had been found guilty of serious crimes.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Association said 54 had received long sentences and 18 were serving life in prison.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, nearly 47,500 people have been killed in the territory since Israel invaded in the wake of the 7 October 2023 attack, in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 taken hostage.
A ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas began on 19 January, with the first stage seeing 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners released, as well as hundreds of lorries carrying humanitarian aid being allowed into Gaza each day.
