Hamas militants on Saturday released four female Israeli soldiers held captive during the brutal 15-month-long war in the Gaza Strip in return for 200 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, in the second exchange since a fragile ceasefire took effect last weekend.
The truce halted the fighting in Gaza for at least six weeks during which dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be freed while more aid flows in.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would not allow displaced Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza, which had been expected to begin by Sunday, because a civilian hostage who was supposed to be released by Hamas had not been freed on Saturday. Mediators are trying to resolve the dispute, and it’s not clear when Palestinians will be able to return home.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians. The war was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which killed around 1,200 people.
Here’s the latest:
Palestinians get ready and wait for Israel to allow their return to northern Gaza
WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip — Hundreds of Palestinian families have crowded on the upper edge of southern Gaza, waiting for the Israeli military to allow their return to their homes in the northern half of the coastal enclave.
“I’m waiting, and I’m staying until the morning until they open the road and I return,” said Khalil Abd, from Gaza City. “Open the way for us to return, that’s enough.”
According to the ceasefire deal, the Israeli military had been expected to allow hundreds of thousands of Palestinian to return to northern Gaza through a road that bisects the territory starting Sunday.
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the pullback was on hold because of delays in the release of an Israeli civilian woman from captivity in Gaza.
Mediators say they are trying to resolve the dispute, and it’s not clear when Palestinians will be able to return home.
The U.N. estimates that some 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced by the 15-month-long war. Hundreds of thousands moved to squalid tent camps in southern Gaza.
Crowds welcome Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons
RAMALLAH, West Bank — “The people want Hamas,” the crowd chanted as buses carrying dozens of released Palestinian prisoners arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israel released a total of 200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday in exchange for four young female Israeli soldiers captured in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Around 70 of the prisoners were released into Egypt.
In Ramallah, a crowd of thousands cheered and flashed victory signs as the buses arrived. Gaunt-looking prisoners in gray jumpsuits were hoisted onto people’s shoulders.
Most of the prisoners released Saturday were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks on Israelis.
Nearly every Palestinian has friends or relatives who have been detained by Israeli authorities at some point, accused of taking part in deadly attacks, violent protests or political activism. Most Palestinians view those held by Israel as political prisoners who have sacrificed for their struggle for statehood.
“They are my brothers,” said Nour Ghiyatha, who joined the crowd on Saturday. “I don’t know them, but with us Palestinians, it’s central, the prisoner issue they represent.”
Ramallah is where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority — rivals of Hamas — is based. But the crowd repeatedly broke into pro-Hamas chants, reflecting the PA’s unpopularity and widespread support for the release of prisoners.
Israel releases 200 Palestinian prisoners in a Gaza ceasefire deal after Hamas freed 4 soldiers
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah celebrated the arrival of buses carrying dozens of prisoners released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
Israel said it released a total of 200 prisoners after Hamas freed four young, female Israeli soldiers.
The prisoners include 120 who were serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks on Israelis. Around 70 were released into Egypt.
Israel warns Palestinians not to return to northern Gaza
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military is warning Palestinians in Gaza not to return to northern Gaza.
The army’s Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee, published a post on social media telling Palestinians not to approach the east-west Netzarim route, which bisects Gaza.
Israel had been expected to open the route by Sunday as part of the latest stage of the ceasefire. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the pullback was on hold because of delays in the release of an Israeli civilian woman from captivity in Gaza.
Mediators say they are trying to resolve the dispute.
Some Palestinian prisoners being released will be sent to other Arab countries
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The head of a Palestinian prisoner advocacy group says that some of the 70 convicted militants being transferred to Egypt after their release from Israeli prison will ultimately be sent to other Arab countries.
Abdullah al-Zaghari, the head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, told The Associated Press that Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey have all expressed willingness to receive some of those required to live in exile according to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
A total of 200 prisoners, 120 of them sentenced to life prison on charges related to deadly attacks against Israelis, were being freed Saturday after Hamas released four female soldiers from captivity in Gaza.
Al-Zaghari said that the details of how many of the 70 deported Palestinian prisoners will stay living in Egypt and how many will travel on to other countries are still being worked out.
Video shows freed hostages in an Israeli army base
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has released a video showing the freed hostages being welcomed at an army base in southern Israel.
Some of the hostages hugged the female soldiers who greeted them. One of them, Liri Albag, 19, smiled, gave two thumbs-up and made a heart shape with her hands before boarding a van.
Israel’s president welcomes hostages home
JERUSALEM — Israel’s president has welcomed home the four female soldiers released from captivity.
“You are heroes,” President Isaac Herzog said in a post on X.
Herzog wished them healthy recoveries, but says the nation “will not rest” until all hostages return.
Israel releases 70 Palestinian prisoners into Egypt in Gaza ceasefire deal
CAIRO — Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV says Israel has released 70 Palestinian prisoners into Egypt under the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The network says they arrived at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip.
Hamas had earlier released four female Israeli soldiers. Israel is expected to release a total of 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees, many of whom will be sent into exile.
Israel says it won’t allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza until hostage Arbel Yehoud is released
JERUSALEM — Israel says it will not allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza until Arbel Yehoud, one of the dozens of hostages held by Hamas, is released.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Yehoud was supposed to have been released Saturday as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Hamas had earlier released four female Israeli soldiers.
Israeli army spokesman criticizes Hamas’ display of hostages
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari says the released hostages are “in our hands” and on their way home.
In a televised statement Saturday, Hagari criticized what he called the “cynical” public display of the young women by Hamas before their release.
He also said that Israel is concerned about the fate of the two youngest hostages — Kfir and Ariel Bibas — and their mother Shiri. Kfir Bibas marked his second birthday in captivity earlier this month.
Hagari says the army is committed to bringing all hostages home.
Palestinians release a list of 200 prisoners to be released from Israel
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian authorities have released a list of 200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees expected to be released from Israel in exchange for four female Israeli soldiers held by Hamas in Gaza.
The list includes 120 militants serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis. The rest are serving lengthy sentences.
The list shows that 70 of the prisoners will not be allowed to return to their homes in the occupied West Bank or Jerusalem and will be required to live in exile. It’s unclear exactly where they will go.
The more notorious militants being released include Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Qassim, 54, both from east Jerusalem. They were accused of carrying out a series of deadly 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.
Another prisoner set to be released is Mohammed Aradeh, 42, an Islamic Jihad militant, who become something of a Palestinian folk hero in 2021 along with five other prisoners after they used spoons to tunnel their way out of Israel’s most secure prison in an extraordinary escape that stunned Israelis and Palestinians alike.
4 female soldiers freed by Hamas as part of Gaza ceasefire are with Israeli forces
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Four female soldiers freed from captivity in the Gaza Strip are with Israeli forces, the second such release as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Israel confirmed it had received the freed hostages on Saturday. The truce, which began Sunday, is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.
The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.
Lebanese army blames Israel for delay in deploying troops in southern Lebanon
BEIRUT — The Lebanese army on Saturday said it has been unable to deploy its forces throughout southern Lebanon as laid out in a ceasefire agreement that halted the Israel-Hezbollah war because of Israel’s “procrastination in withdrawal” from the area.
Under the deal reached in November, Israel is supposed to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by Sunday, after which the Lebanese armed forces would patrol the buffer zone in southern Lebanon alongside U.N. peacekeepers to prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing a military presence there.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Friday that Israel might not withdraw by the deadline, and Washington appears prepared to push for an extension. Netanyahu said the Lebanese government hasn’t yet “fully enforced” the agreement, an apparent reference to the deployment of Lebanese troops.
The Lebanese army statement said “procrastination in the withdrawal by the Israeli enemy complicates the army’s deployment mission.” It said it “maintains readiness to complete its deployment immediately after the Israeli enemy withdraws.”
It called on displaced Lebanese not to return to their areas until they receive instructions, citing the danger of landmines and explosives. Some 112,000 Lebanese remain displaced. There have been calls for protests on Sunday if Israel does not fully withdraw.
Crowds gather in Tel Aviv and Gaza City ahead of the release of hostages and prisoners
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Crowds began to gather in Tel Aviv and Gaza City on Saturday ahead of the expected swap between Israel and Hamas of more hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, a big screen showed the faces of the four female soldiers expected to be released. Some in the growing crowd wore Israeli flags, others held posters with the hostages’ faces.
“I’m extremely excited, exhilarated,” said onlooker Gili Roman. “In a heartbeat, in a split of a second, their lives are going to turn upside again, but right now for a positive and a good side.”
He said his sister was released in the only other ceasefire in November, but another relative was killed in captivity.
In Gaza City’s central Palestine Square, a crowd began to gather early as militants worked to cordon off an area where the hostages were expected to be handed over to the Red Cross.
Dozens of armed and masked militants also paraded in vehicles through the streets of the city, said resident Radwan Abu Rawiya who was part of the Palestine Square crowd.
Children ran alongside the militants’ vehicles as celebratory gunfire rang out, he said in a telephone interview.
“People are celebrating and waiting to see the hostages,” he said.