Hamas activists released three male hostages detained in the Gaza Strip on Saturday and Israel began to publish 183 Palestinian prisoners of Israeli prisons, part of a cease-fire contract which interrupted 15 months of intense fighting.
The activists presented to Yarden Bibas and French-Israélien Ofr Kalderon to officials of the Red Cross in the southern city of Khan Younis, while the Americans-Israelis Keith Siegel, in search of the Red Cross, were released on Saturday morning later Saturday morning in Gaza City to the north. All three were removed during the attack led by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war.
Their release brings to 18 the number of hostages published since the start of the ceasefire on January 19. The two events on Saturday were rapid and ordered, unlike the chaotic scenes that took place Thursday when armed activists seemed to have trouble holding a crowd during a hostage release.
In the two outings on Saturday, masked and armed activists stood online while the hostages were heading for a scene and made before being driven and returned to the Red Cross.
In Tel Aviv’s Storms Square, thousands of people gathered to look at the outings transmitted live on a large screen, waving panels and cheers.
The ceasefire aims to finish the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group. The agreement takes place for two weeks, interrupting the fighting and allowing increased help to flow into the tiny coastal territory.
During the first phase of the truce of six weeks, a total of 33 Israeli hostages must be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says he has received information from Hamas that eight of these hostages were killed in Hamas on October 7, 2023, attacking or died in captivity.
Leave Gaza for medical treatment
Also on Saturday, the injured Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza for Egypt by crossing Rafah, the only exit point for the Palestinians during the war before Israel closed it in May. A civilian mission of the European Union was deployed on Friday to prepare for the reopening of the crosspiece.
The reopening marks another key step in the first phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the return of the Palestinians north of Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory.
The Ministry of Health said that 50 sick and injured children were to be evacuated by the crossing of Rafah with 61 companions.
Siegel, 65, from Chapel Hill, NC, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, with his wife, Aviva Siegel. She was released during the 2023 ceasefire and led a high-level campaign to release Keith and other hostages.
There were relief sighs and cheers in a living room where Kibbutz members watched the Siegel’s release. Many of those in the room were family friends, who applauded when he saw Siegel’s face, while some have torn.
Siegel is one of the most prominent hostages, now a familiar name in Israel after his wife Aviva SiegelAlso captured in the attack on Hamas, set up a public campaign to bring him home after his own liberation from captivity in November 2023.
Meanwhile, the Liberation of Bibas, 35, drew renewed attention to the fate of his wife, Shiri, and their two young sons, Ariel, Four and Kfir, nine months at the time. All four were captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
KFIR was the youngest of around 250 people caught in captivity on October 7, and his fate quickly came to represent the helplessness and anger of the agitated hostage in Israel, where the Bibas family has become a familiar name.
Hamas said Shiri and his sons had been killed in an Israeli air strike. Israel has not confirmed this, but a military spokesman recently recognized serious concerns about their fate.
Kalderon, 54, was also captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
In Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv, Kalderon’s family has grown and applauded when I saw the images to climb to him on the stage at Khan Younis and be transferred to the Red Cross.
“OFER comes home!” They said, their arms got up in the sky.
The two children of Kalderon, Erez and Sahar, were removed by his side and released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023. Family members said they were not able to Put their test until their father returns.
Hamas released 3 Israels and five Thai nationals in a situation of transferring chaotic hostages to Gaza, which prompted Israel to briefly delay the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners.
“We are sorry that it took so long, OFER,” said Eyal Kalderon. “We will soon be an entire family again. We hope that other families will soon feel like that, until the last family.”
Out of approximately 250 people initially removed by activists during the October 7 attack, more than 100 were released during a one-week ceasefire in November 2023. About 80 others are still in Gaza, At least a third of them believed dead.
Israel and Hamas are ready next week to start negotiating a second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the release of the remaining hostages and the extent of the truce indefinitely. The war could resume in early March if an agreement is not concluded.
Israel says that he is still determined to destroy Hamas, even after the militant group reaffirmed its rule on Gaza in the hours following the last ceasefire.
Hamas says that it will not release the remaining hostages endless to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
During the October 7 attack which sparked the war, some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 47,000 Palestinians were killed during the air and land warning war in Israel.
The Israeli army says it killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. He blamed Hamas’ civil death because his fighters operate in residential neighborhoods.
