Jubilant crowds cried tears of joy in Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square” on Saturday as they watched footage of four Israeli women hostages being freed by Hamas in Gaza.
Waving Israeli flags and holding up images of the four young women, all soldiers, the crowd burst into cheers at footage of them being handed over to the Red Cross broadcast on a big screen in the square.
The four Israeli women soldiers held hostage since its October 7, 2023 attack were released under a truce deal in the Gaza war that is also expected to see a second group of Palestinian prisoners freed.
Israel confirmed on Friday that it had received a list of names of hostages who are due to return home, though neither side has specified how many Palestinians will be released from Israeli detention if everything goes to plan.
According to the Israeli Hostage and Missing Families Forum, the women due for release are Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag.
Albag turned 19 while in captivity, while the others are all now 20 years old.
The exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday and is intended to pave the way to a permanent end to the conflict.
Mediators Qatar and the United States announced the agreement days ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and he has since claimed credit for securing it after months of fruitless negotiations.
Abu Obeida, the spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said on Telegram Friday that “as part of the prisoners’ exchange deal, the Qassam brigades decided to release tomorrow four women soldiers.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed it had received the names through mediators.
AFP
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