Israel received the three hostages after Hamas paraded them Saturday before hundreds in the Gaza Strip ahead of their release. Dozens of Palestinian prisoners have been freed in return.
The exchange is part of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel.
According to Hamas and Israel, the hostages are: Eli Sharabi, 52; Ohad Ben Ami, 56; and Or Levy, 34. All were abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war after some 1,200 people were killed.
It was the fifth swap of hostages for prisoners since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19. Eighteen hostages and more than 550 Palestinian prisoners have already been freed in that time.
Observers were concerned U.S. President Donald Trump’s stunning proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza could have imperiled the fragile deal.
The ceasefire paused the 15-month war in the Gaza Strip where Israel’s retaliatory attack has killed more than 47,000 people, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Here is the latest:
Released Israeli hostages reunited with relatives
TEL-AVIV, Israel — The three Israeli hostages released on Saturday have been reunited with family members on Israeli soil.
“It’s over, it’s over,” Or Levy’s brother said as they embraced at a military base where the hostages first crossed over from Gaza. Levy’s parents then joined them in a tearful embrace. Levy’s wife was killed in the Oct. 7 attack, and their 3-year-old son has been in the care of relatives since.
Ella Ben Ami, the daughter of released hostage Ohad Ben Ami, told Israeli channel 12 that she could barely recognize her father when she saw him in the live footage of his release after 16 months of captivity. “I have to say that it was a really difficult few moments, to say the least,” she said, adding: “He was emaciated and his bones were protruding. It took me a moment to realize that this was my father.”
Ella and her sisters, Yulie and Natalie, spoke with their father as he was checked over at a hospital. “You’re the strongest in the world!” Ella told him, according to footage released by the prime minister’s office.
Iran’s top leader meets Hamas leaders in Tehran
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader has met top Hamas leaders in Tehran, state-run IRNA news agency reported Saturday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy chairman of Hamas’ Political Bureau, and Muhammad Ismail Darwish, Hamas’ Shura Council chairman, IRNA reported.
The report quoted Khamenei as saying that the people of Gaza defeated “the Zionist regime, and in fact, America, and didn’t let them reach any of their goals.”
Khamenei also thanked the Hamas officials who negotiated the ceasefire agreement with Israel, IRNA said.
Israel begins releasing dozens of Palestinian prisoners
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Associated Press reporters saw a bus carrying a few dozen Palestinian prisoners heading to a meeting point where their families, friends and well-wishers were waiting.
Scenes of three Israeli hostages speaking under duress spark rage
TEL AVIV, Israel — The three looked gaunt and frail and were made to speak during a carefully orchestrated release ceremony surrounded by armed militants.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “We will not accept the shocking scenes” that played out Saturday. The statement did not lay out any punitive measures, but previous releases that were chaotic sparked a delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, said the hostages spent “491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained” and were “being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the “difficult scenes” were reason to extend the truce with Hamas and bring home the dozens of remaining hostages.
Hostage family in the UK marks his release
LONDON — Gillian and Pete Brisley watched the handover of their son-in-law, Eli Sharabi, from their home in Britain with bittersweet emotion, thrilled that he was finally free but horrified at his physical condition.
“At the moment I can hardly talk,’’ a shaken Gillian Brisley said before handing the phone to her husband, who commented on how fragile Sharabi appeared.
“He looks as though he’s been to Belsen,’’ Pete Brisley said, referring to the World War II concentration camp.
Earlier, his family said they didn’t know whether Sharabi had been told that his wife and two teenage daughters were killed on Oct. 7., 2023.
“I just hope that he already knows, because it’s just going to be another layer of torture for him to have survived for the 490 days and then to come out to that piece of news,’’ his wife’s brother Stephen Brisley told the BBC before his release.
Israel receives the three hostages
Israel confirmed it received the 3 hostages who were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza earlier Saturday.
They are set to be taken for medical treatment and then reunited with their relatives.
Hostage family celebrates his release
TEL AVIV, Israel — The extended family of Eli Sharabi erupted into cheers and chanting when they saw him on TV being released.
The joyful scene was quickly replaced with tension, worry and tears as the relatives took in Sharabi’s appearance — gaunt and frail looking after 16 months in captivity.
When Sharabi was led to the vehicles of the Red Cross, they again jumped and shouted and sang a Jewish prayer meant to note special occasions.
“He doesn’t look good. It is mixed feelings. We are happy he is on his feet” said Kathy Barby, a relative. “He is alive.”
In a central Tel Aviv square, dubbed “Hostages Square” because it has become a center for protests from hostage families, supporters, carrying posters of other hostages yet to be freed from captivity, chanted: “Bring them home!”
Hamas parades the 3 hostages
The three hostages arrived at the exchange location where Hamas paraded them before a crowd of hundreds in the Gaza Strip ahead of their release. They were led up onto a stage and a masked Hamas fighter held a microphone as each was made to give a statement before the crowd.
Hostages did not speak during previous releases.
Red Cross vehicles arrive at exchange location
Red Cross vehicles have arrived at the location in the Gaza Strip where Hamas is to free 3 Israeli hostages.
Hostages’ families eagerly await their return
TEL AVIV, Israel — Michael Levy, Or Levy’s brother, said his 3-year-old nephew, Almog, already knows that his father was on his way. Michael said the family had told Almog that his mother, who was killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, was not returning but that they were searching for his father.
“Mogi, we found daddy,” Michael Levy said he told the boy, using his nickname, in an interview with Israeli Channel 12. “We haven’t seen happiness like that in him for a long time.”
Osnat Sharabi Matalon, Eli Sharabi’s sister, told the news channel the family was stunned that he was finally being freed. “Until we see, touch and hug him, it feels like it isn’t happening.”
Sharabi’s extended family gathered at a home in Tel Aviv to watch the release live. Relatives jumped and cheered in anticipation.
Members of Kibbutz Beeri, from where Sharabi and third hostage Ohad Ben Ami are from, gathered with Israeli flags and posters welcoming the two hostages back.
Armed Hamas fighters gather at exchange location
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Dozens of masked and armed Hamas fighters, some driving white pickup trucks with guns mounted on them, lined up Saturday morning at the location of the exchange near the territory’s main north-south highway in Central Gaza.
A small crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene, with a line of Hamas fighters keeping them at a distance from a temporary stage.