Hamas Releases Four Female Israeli Soldiers, Hands Them to Red Cross in Gaza

Hamas released four female Israeli soldiers held in Gaza as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel, handing them over Saturday morning to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza.

“The names of the four female Israeli soldiers who will be exchanged on Saturday for Palestinian prisoners have been released by Hamas”

Al Jazeera

NPR identified the women as Liri Albag, 19; Karina Ariev, 20; Daniella Gilboa, 20 and Naama Levy, 20, and said the handover took place on Palestine Square in Gaza City.

Al Jazeera

NBC News reported that the four hostages crossed into Israeli territory and were accompanied by Israeli special forces, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment.

The NBC News account said the exchange is part of a six-week ceasefire deal that came into effect last Sunday and signaled a pause in 15 months of fighting and Israeli aerial bombardment in Gaza.

NPR said the latest exchange came amid anger in Israel that Hamas was still holding civilians, despite having agreed as part of the deal to release civilian hostages ahead of Israeli soldiers.

Israel released 200 Palestinians from prison as part of the hostage-for-prisoner swap outlined in the temporary truce, with the Israel Prison Service saying the prisoners were released in groups to the West Bank and to the Keren Shalom crossing where Israel meets Gaza and Egypt.

NPR reported that Abdullah Zaghri, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, said in a statement that more than half of those released Saturday have been transferred to the West Bank, and that Hamas said 120 of the detainees were serving life sentences.

Al-Jazeera Net

NBC News said the Palestinian prisoners authority released a list of the 200 prisoners expected to be handed over by Israel, with 121 serving life sentences and 79 serving long sentences.

NBC News also said the list includes 70 prisoners who will be deported outside of Gaza and the West Bank, and that the truce terms call for Hamas to release one civilian hostage for every 30 Palestinians held in Israeli custody and one female Israeli soldier for 50 detainees heading the other way.

Al Jazeera said the names of the four soldiers to be exchanged were Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag, and that under the agreement Israel agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for each Israeli soldier being held in Gaza and 30 for any of the other female captives during the first phase.

As the ceasefire continued, Israel said it would not allow the passage of Gazans to the north of the Gaza Strip until the release of the citizen Arbel Yehoud, which the Prime Minister's Office said was supposed to be released that day.

“Hamas released four Israeli hostages in Gaza early Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners to be released later in the day”

CBS News

France 24 reported that Hamas accused Israel of delaying implementation of Gaza ceasefire terms by preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to north of the enclave, warning that such delays could have "repercussions" for the subsequent stages of the agreement.

CBS News said the four Israeli women were kidnapped from the Nahal Oz military base on the border with northern Gaza when Palestinian militants overran it on Oct. 7, and that they had been serving in a lookout unit there.

CBS News quoted IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari saying, "Hamas failed to meet its obligations to first release Israeli female civilian hostages as part of the agreement," and said Israel expected to begin withdrawing from the central road dividing northern and southern Gaza from east to west, called the Netzarim Corridor.

NPR said the four women were freed as part of a deal brokered by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt for a six-week ceasefire that began last Sunday after more than 15 months of war in Gaza, with Hamas promising to release another 26 hostages in the coming weeks.