• ガザでの戦争終結を目指した停戦合意に沿ったスワップ
• ハマスによると、200人の囚人が交換の一環として土曜日に解放されるという。

JERUSALEM/CAIRO/GAZA: Palestinian militant group Hamas released four Israeli female soldier hostages on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners.

The four Israelis were carried onto a podium in Gaza City amid a large Palestinian crowd and surrounded by dozens of armed Hamas men, who waved and smiled before climbing into a Red Cross vehicle to be transported by Israeli troops.

Shortly after, buses carrying the freed Palestinian prisoners were seen leaving Israel’s Ofer military prison in the West Bank. The Israeli Prison Service said all 200 had been released.

The exchange was greeted by cheering crowds, including Israelis in Tel Aviv and Palestinians in Ramallah. It was the second release under the ceasefire, following the first on January 19, the first day of the ceasefire.

The truce calls for Hamas to release 33 women, children, elderly, sick and wounded hostages in a first six-week phase, and for Israel to release 30 prisoners for every civilian and 50 prisoners for every soldier.

The four Israeli soldiers released on Saturday – Karina Aliyev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levi and Lili Albagh – were all stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza when Hamas fighters seized the base and abducted them in an Israeli attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that marked the start of the war.

Their parents watched the handover live from a nearby military base across the border, clapping and cheering as they saw them on screen. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis gathered in a gathering place now widely known as Hostage Square, crying, hugging and cheering as the release was broadcast on a giant screen.

They were soon reunited with their families and taken by helicopter to a hospital in central Israel, where photos released by the Israeli army showed them smiling and crying as they embraced their parents.

Among the 200 Palestinians released Saturday were militants serving life sentences for their roles in attacks that killed dozens, according to a list published by Hamas.

Israel says anyone convicted of killing Israelis will not be allowed to return home. Palestinian officials say about 70 people will be deported to Egypt, from where they will be sent to another country, possibly Turkey, Qatar or Algiers.

Sixteen more will be sent to Gaza, while the rest will be released to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where they were greeted by cheering crowds waving Palestinian flags.

Conflict

Israeli joy over Saturday’s release was clouded by disappointment over the civilian hostage who was expected to be released but was not. Abel Yehud, 29, had been abducted along with her boyfriend from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

An Israeli military spokesman said not releasing her was a violation of the truce, but Hamas said it was a technicality. A Hamas official said the group had told mediators that she was alive and would be released next Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Palestinians in Gaza would not be allowed to return to the north until the issue was resolved.

Hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the north of Gaza, which is largely in ruins after 15 months of fighting and shelling, are hoping to return from Sunday. Palestinian officials told Reuters that mediators were working to resolve the issue.

The ceasefire agreement, reached after months of negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, marks the first halt in fighting in more than a year. The previous ceasefire lasted just one week in November 2023, during which about half the hostages were released.

After this first phase of the ceasefire, the two sides are expected to negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages, including military men, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, but any agreement is far from certain.

After Saturday’s release, Israeli officials said 90 hostages remained in Gaza, about a third of them dead, with 26 more to be released in the first phase.

Families of the hostages, who are due to be released at a later stage, fear the ceasefire will fall apart before their fates can be decided.

Some Israeli officials critical of the ceasefire say Israel would have to restart fighting to prevent Hamas from regaining power in Gaza. Hamas has said it will not release all hostages until the war is ended for good.

Israel launched its Gaza operation following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack in which militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza, according to an Israeli tally. Since then, Israeli operations have killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and more than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in action in Gaza.

Hamas has not said how many fighters it has lost – Israel estimates militants account for more than a third of Gaza’s dead – but militants have openly returned to the streets during the ceasefire, posing a challenge to Israeli authorities who say they will not end the war until Hamas is eradicated.

Reuters