Hamas frees 4 female Israeli soldiers in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners as ceasefire holds

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Four female Israeli soldiers who were taken in the attack that sparked the war in Gaza returned to Israel on Saturday after Hamas militants paraded them before a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and handed them over to the Red Cross. Israel later released 200 Palestinian prisoners in the second exchange of a fragile ceasefire.

The four Israelis smiled, waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage in Palestine Square, with armed, masked militants on either side as Hamas sought to show it remained in control in Gaza after 15 months of war. The hostages likely acted under duress. Previously released ones said they were held in brutal conditions and forced to record propaganda videos.

Israel’s Prison Service later said it had released 200 Palestinians, including 121 people serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis, while others were held without charge.

Thousands of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah celebrated their arrival. Wan-looking and wearing gray prison sweatsuits, some wore Hamas headbands given to them by the crowd and rode on supporters’ shoulders.

In the deal’s first major crisis, Israel said it would not allow displaced Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza as had been expected by Sunday, because a civilian hostage who was supposed to be released, Arbel Yehoud, had not been freed.

As mediators addressed that, hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the Netzarim corridor — an east-west road dividing Gaza — waiting to move north.

“Why are they treating us like this?” asked one man, Khalil Abd. Families huddled in the streets around bonfires against the winter cold.

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man close to the Netzarim corridor, Palestinian medical officials said. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots in response to “gatherings of dozens of suspects.” It said it was unaware of anyone harmed and again warned people not to approach troops.

Israel insists on release of civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would not allow Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza until Yehoud, a civilian taken from a kibbutz in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, was freed.

Hamas said it held Israel responsible for “any delay in implementing the agreement and its repercussions.”

A senior Hamas official said the group informed mediators that Yehoud will be released next week. An Egyptian official involved in negotiations called the matter a “minor issue” that mediators were working to resolve. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The U.S. National Security Council continues to push for Yehoud’s release, a spokesperson said.

The ceasefire began last weekend and is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas. The deal has allowed for a surge of aid into tiny, devastated Gaza.

When the ceasefire started, three hostages were released in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children.

Who are the soldiers and prisoners released?

The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were taken from Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when Palestinian militants overran it, killing more than 60 soldiers.

The four squealed as they hurried to embrace loved ones. Thousands of people danced and celebrated as the soldiers arrived by helicopter near a Tel Aviv hospital, which described them in stable condition.

“I had goosebumps watching them,” said Aviv Bercovich in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. “I just want the war to end.”

A fifth female soldier in their unit, Agam Berger, 20, also was abducted. “Now she’s there alone,” said family friend Yoni Collins.

Gaza City resident Radwan Abu Rawiya also watched the handover. “This is huge,” he said. “People forgot about the war, destruction and are celebrating.”

A video released by Hamas’ armed wing showed the hostages thanking the militants in Arabic for the “good treatment,” again likely under duress.

Israel’s army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari criticized the “cynical” display by Hamas. He also said Israel is concerned about the two youngest hostages — Kfir and Ariel Bibas — and their mother, Shiri. Kfir Bibas marked his second birthday in captivity this month.

Among the Palestinian prisoners released were Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Qassim, 54, accused of carrying out Hamas attacks against Israelis, including a bombing at a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2002 that killed nine people, including five U.S. citizens.

“I am afraid that I will not know him when he gets out, or that he will not know me,” said Rana Raef al-Farra in Gaza, who said she was 7 when her father was sentenced 21 years ago.

Seventy released prisoners were expelled to Egypt, with Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey expressing willingness to take them in, according to Abdullah al-Zaghari, head of a Palestinian prisoner advocacy group.

What’s next in the ceasefire

Twenty-six other hostages should be released in the ceasefire’s six-week first phase, along with hundreds more Palestinian prisoners. The next exchange is next Saturday.

What happens after the first phase is uncertain, but many hope it will lead to ending the war that has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s population and left hundreds of thousands at risk of famine.

The Oct. 7 attack killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 others hostage. Over 100 were freed in a weeklong truce the following month. Israel believes at least a third of the over 90 captives still in Gaza are dead.

The war has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not say how many were militants but say women and children make up over half the dead.

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Follow coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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Debre reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Magdy reported from Cairo. Shurafa reported from Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Joseph Federman in Jerusalem, Sam McNeil at Reim Military Base, Israel, Zeke Miller in Washington and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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This version corrects the number of other hostages who are meant to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire to 26 instead of 27.

Isabel Debre, Sam Mednick, Wafaa Shurafa And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press