Wednesday12 February 2025
glasno.com.ua

Hamas released four Israeli hostages in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners.

Former hostages were transported by Red Cross vehicles to a military base near the Israeli border. Buses carrying released Palestinian prisoners headed towards the West Bank.
ХАМАС освободил четырех израильских заложниц, получив взамен 200 палестинских заключенных.

Four young women, soldiers from the Israeli intelligence, — Karina Ariyev (20), Daniella Gilboa (20), Naama Levi (20), and Liri Albag (19) — were taken from the central square of Palestine in Gaza City by International Red Cross vehicles on Saturday morning.

Crowds of Gaza residents watched the process.

Before their release, a Red Cross delegate and a representative of Hamas signed unidentified documents. Then Hamas militants brought all four onto a stage, where they waved to the crowd and the media representatives.

The soldiers were abducted by Hamas militants from the Nahal Oz base near the Gaza border on October 7, 2023, where more than 60 soldiers were killed. All the kidnapped women served in an intelligence unit responsible for monitoring threats along the border. A fifth female soldier in their unit, Agam Berger, 20, was abducted along with them but was not included in the list.

The parents welcomed their daughters at an IDF military facility near the Gaza Strip border, where they will undergo an initial medical examination.

In exchange for the four soldiers, Israel released 200 Palestinians from prison, 120 of whom were convicted terrorists serving life sentences. Buses carrying the released Palestinians have already headed to the West Bank.

As part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, a gradual release of a total of 33 hostages is expected in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, as well as the arrival of additional humanitarian aid to Gaza.

According to Israeli estimates, about a third, possibly half, of the more than 90 hostages still in Gaza have died. Israelis are concerned about the fate of two infants, the Bibas, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Hamas has not provided precise data on the number of surviving captives or the names of the deceased, but the organization is expected to release additional information about the remaining 26 hostages to be exchanged in the coming weeks.