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Four female Israeli soldiers captured by Hamas remained with Israeli forces after they were handed over to Red Cross workers on Saturday as a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip entered its second week.
About 200 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons were also released later in the day, under the terms of a deal that halted more than 15 months of fighting. This battle took effect last Sunday with Prakash Three Israeli women are civilian hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Four soldiers who had returned to Israel—Liri Albagh, 19, Daniela Gilboa, 20, Karina Ariyev, 20, and others—were seized from a military outpost on the Israel-Gaza border during a 2023 Hamas raid—triggering the conflict. Images and videos of their bloody abduction were broadcast last year. Their freedom became a central demand of the hostage-free movement that rallied around the families of those still held captive in Gaza.
Hamas gunmen wearing Red Cross masks were fired on in Gaza City’s Palestine Square amid a gathering of hundreds of uniformed and armed militants and cheering onlookers.
The four Israeli women marched across the square to a small stage carrying a banner in Hebrew, which read “Zionism will not win”. After a brief look at the crowd they were ushered into the Red Cross vehicle.
The Red Cross then took the four to relocation sites where they were handed over to Israeli special forces and intelligence agents.
A force of forces was deployed across the Gaza Strip by Hamas, with convoys of white pick-up trucks filled with gunmen and flying the green Hamas flag broadcast on Arab television stations and social media.
This second installment of hostage-taking releases was momentarily thrown into doubt on Friday night when Hamas announced that four soldiers would be freed.
Israeli officials have claimed this is a violation of the terms of the agreement which called for the civilian women still alive – including those believed to remain in captivity – to be released before the soldiers. Yet the Israeli government has decided to press ahead, and it is unclear whether the civilian, Arbel Yehud, will be released as part of next week’s exchange.
US-led mediators this month secured a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the first phase of a complex three-phase deal that could permanently end the war and secure the release of the remaining 90 hostages held by Hamas.
Donald Trump has warned that if no deal is struck before his inauguration on Monday, he will have to “pay all the money”. On Friday, the new US president said: “The agreement should be kept, but if it is not, there will be many problems.”
Under the terms of the deal, the first phase consisted of the release of 33 Israeli hostages, including children, women, the sick and the elderly, in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds serving long sentences on charges of terrorism and murder. The releases will take place in weekly installments over 42 days in the first phase.
During this time, Israeli troops will withdraw from populated areas in the breakaway region and displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to their homes in northern Gaza later Saturday. Humanitarian aid entering the Strip has already increased sharply in the past week.
Within days of the first phase, Israel and Hamas are scheduled to begin negotiating the details of a second phase, during which the remaining surviving hostages will be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a further withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and an end to a full-scale war. The final phase involves the return of the bodies of the dead hostages and the start of the reconstruction of Gaza.
