Four female Israeli soldiers taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October 2023 were released on Saturday as part of a swap which will also see 200 Palestinian prisoners freed.
Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag, all aged between 19 and 20, were released to the Red Cross in Gaza City during a heavily choreographed handover involving dozens of Hamas gunmen.
However, Israel accused Hamas of breaching the terms of the ceasefire because female civilian hostage Arbel Yehud was not included in Saturday’s release.
Israel said it would delay the planned return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza, while Hamas insisted the hostage would be released next weekend.
Despite the dispute, Israel was still set to continue with the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners in return for the four hostages.
Among them are 70 people who will be immediately deported to neighbouring countries via Egypt due to the seriousness of their offences.
A further 16 prisoners will be transferred to Gaza, while the rest will be allowed to return to their homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The swap on Saturday was the second exchange since a ceasefire came into effect on 19 January. Three hostages and 90 Palestinian prisoners were released in the first swap.
Carefully staged release
Saturday’s event in Palestine Square, Gaza City, was highly choreographed by Hamas, unlike last weekend’s chaotic handover.
The four hostages emerged from cars and were shepherded by masked gunmen to a stage erected in the square, where moments earlier a Red Cross official had sat at a desk to sign documents with a Hamas fighter.
The hostages and the masked gunmen wore lanyards around their necks containing laminated ID badges, each with their own sort of accreditation for the event.
The stage was set up with a desk and flags, symbols of bureaucracy – but alongside the platform was a machine gun.
The four Israeli women were seen waving, smiling and holding hands as crowds of Hamas gunmen and Palestinian civilians looked on.
Hamas – which gave each hostage a bag of items to take with them back to Israel – will hope these carefully crafted images project order as well as strength.
The intended recipients of the message was likely aimed at both Palestinians hoping to run Gaza one day, and at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had vowed to destroy the group in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks.
For Israelis, there was huge relief that another four hostages – who were reunited with their families shortly after being freed – are safe.
Last week, many felt fury that the first three women released were unceremoniously bundled away during the handover.
After Saturday’s wildly contrasting scenes, another kind of anger was likely: at the public parading of the women in their final moments before being given their freedom.
Strain over ceasefire terms
While Saturday’s swap went ahead, Israel accused Hamas of breaking the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
Israel had originally expected Arbel Yehud to be released as the terms of the ceasefire deal prioritise female civilians.
However, when Hamas submitted a list of hostages on Friday it planned to free, her name was not on it.
After the four hostages were safely back in Israel on Saturday, Israel said it would respond by not yet allowing displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, as had been planned.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel had been due to withdraw its troops from some positions inside Gaza.
Israel said it would not allow the return of Palestinians until the situation around Ms Yehud was resolved.
Later, a Palestinian official close to Hamas and with knowledge of the ceasefire agreement’s implementation told the BBC that “Hamas has just informed the mediators that the Israeli captive, Arbel Yehuda, is alive and will be released next Saturday”.
The January ceasefire deal halted the war which began when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages.
More than 47,200 Palestinians, the majority civilians, have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says.
