Hamas has released four female Israeli soldiers held in Gaza and 200 Palestinian prisoners have been released from Israeli jails as part of the ceasefire agreement that halted more than 15 months of war.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed on Saturday that it had transferred 128 Palestinian detainees to Gaza and the West Bank while local authorities handled the release and transfer of the remainder, completing the second exchange under the deal that took effect last Sunday.
Before the release in Gaza City’s Palestine Square, dozens of masked Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters gathered at the scene where a large crowd of Palestinians also congregated.
The four women – Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag – were marched onto a podium where they waved and smiled – likely under duress. They were then led into ICRC vehicles, which transported them to Israeli forces.
Representatives of the ICRC and a Hamas fighter were seen signing documents before the release.
Later on Saturday, buses carrying released Palestinian prisoners were seen departing from the Israeli Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank, soon after the Israeli captives were freed. Israel’s Prison Service said all 200 prisoners were released in line with the list published by Hamas.
The releases on either side were welcomed by cheering crowds of Palestinians in the city of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, and by Israelis in Tel Aviv.
Unreleased captive
Israel said a female civilian captive, 29-year-old Arbel Yehud, who had been expected to be freed on Saturday, was not.
She was abducted with her boyfriend from their home in the Nir Oz settlement in Israel during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
An Israeli military spokesman said it was a breach of the truce. A Hamas official told Al Jazeera that Yehuda is alive and will be released next Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Palestinians in Gaza will not be allowed to cross back to the northern part of the territory until the issue is resolved.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from northern Gaza during the war and many are expecting to return from Sunday.
Israel is also expected to open the Rafah border crossing in the south for more humanitarian aid and other commercial supplies to enter.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp, said many Palestinians consider Saturday’s exchange of captives and prisoners as very important as it will pave the way for their return to northern Gaza.
Khoudary quoted sources as saying that many displaced Palestinians were already massing near the Wadi Gaza area, hoping to be able to cross to the north from Sunday.
Saturday’s exchange was the second since a ceasefire began on January 19, when Hamas handed over three Israeli female civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinians held in Israeli jails
Among the 200 Palestinians released from Israeli jails on Saturday, 121 were serving life sentences, while 79 were serving long sentences.
The oldest prisoner is 69 years old while the youngest is 15. Seventy Palestinians are due to be deported, with Egypt expected to host them for 48 hours.
They will consequently be sent to Tunisia, Algeria and Turkiye, which all agreed to receive them.
Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the release of Palestinian prisoners is a “huge relief” for families, although it is happening under the “horrible realities of [the Israeli] occupation”.
“These prisoners should have been released through a bigger deal that ends the conflict, that brings peace through negotiations, through ending occupation, but the harsh reality in Palestine is that as we talk, occupation continues,” Qarmout told Al Jazeera.
“Israel is just intensifying its attacks on the West Bank, confiscating more land, surrounding villages and towns,” he added.
Still, Hamas’s interest is to ensure the ceasefire holds and people are able to return to their homes, or to what’s left of them, Qarmout said.
