Two more Israeli hostages were released Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of a ceasefire deal as a body returned from Gaza Friday was confirmed to be that of hostage Shiri Bibas.
Tal Shoham, 40, who was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, and Avera Mengistu, 39, who crossed over into Gaza on his own around a decade ago, were handed over to the Red Cross early Saturday in the Gaza city of Rafah.
Hundreds of people, including Hamas fighters carrying automatic weapons and wearing military fatigues, balaclavas and Hamas headbands, stood in a rain-soaked square in Rafah as the handover took place.
In Tel Aviv, Israelis waving flags and carrying placards with pictures of the hostages watched the release via video and cheered as the two men were paraded on a makeshift stage surrounded by masked armed Hamas fighters.
Four other hostages were due to be released later Saturday. Eliya Cohen, 27; Omer Shem Tov, 22; and Omer Wenkert, 23, were taken from a music festival during the Oct. 7, attack. Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, has been held since crossing into the Gaza Strip under unexplained circumstances around a decade ago.
The six Israelis are expected to be the last living hostages to be freed during the first phase of the ceasefire.
In exchange, Israel is set to release more than 600 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Saturday’s hostage release followed the return late Friday of the remains of Shiri Bibas. Her body was supposed to be among three others, including two of her children, handed over by Hamas on Thursday. But the Israeli military said the female body was not hers, prompting a warning by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Hamas will “pay the price” for failing to release Bibas’ remains as prescribed by the peace agreement with Israel.
In a video statement, Netanyahu said, “We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement.”
A statement released late Friday by the Bibas family said forensic analysis confirmed Shiri Babas’ remains.
“Last night, our Shiri was returned home,” the family said.
Hamas said Bibas’ remains appeared to have been mixed up with other human remains taken from rubble after an Israeli airstrike hit the place she was held.
Israeli officials said forensic evidence indicated Shiri Bibas and her children were killed by Palestinian militants.
Israel and Hamas are in the first phase of a ceasefire that began on Jan. 19. Talks on the second phase are scheduled to begin this week, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
Hamas killed about 1,200 people in the October 2023 attack on Israel and took about 250 people as hostages. More than half of the captives have been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals, while eight were rescued in military operations.
Israel’s air and ground war killed more than 48,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says the death toll includes 17,000 militants. The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced most of its population of 2.3 million.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
