Hamas releases three Israeli hostages while Palestinian prisoners released

Hamas released three Israeli hostages in Gaza while Israel began to publish more Palestinian prisoners in the last exchange in the cease-fire agreement.

The three hostages – Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and or Levy – were given to the Red Cross on Saturday morning before the men were transferred to the Israeli defense forces (FDI) and taken to Israel.

Palestinian prisoners were welcomed by celebration scenes in Ramallah in an occupied West Bank, with 183 people who should be released in total on Saturday.

Until now, 21 hostages and at least 383 prisoners have been released since the start of the ceasefire on January 19.

At the end of the first stage of the ceasefire in three weeks, 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners should be released. Israel says that eight of the 33 died.

While Sharabi, Ben Ami and Levy were given to the Red Cross in Deir Al-Balah, in the center of Gaza, crowds have lined up, curly by a row of armed fighters, to watch and film on mobile phones , while Hamas and the Palestinian flags have stolen from Vol volley.

An official representative and the Hamas Red Cross signed documents on a scene to complete the transfer. The hostages were then paraded on stage, flanked by men with firearms. The three men asked detention certificates and answered questions in a microphone, before agitating when they were inaugurated in the Red Cross vehicles.

Sharabi’s brother-in-law Steve Brisley, who is Wales, told the BBC Breakfast that he felt an “whole pendulum of emotions, joy and relief to sorrow”.

Brisley said he confirmed that Sharabi is alive is “what we’ve been working on for 16 months”, but it was “incredibly difficult” to see Sharabi, who was “thin and glove”, paraded.

“It is the light that has disappeared from her eyes that is really hit at home for me,” said Brisley.

In accordance with the ceasefire agreement, Israel is expected to release 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday. More than 70 purge sentences for life or long condemnations; Others are Gazans detained during the war.

Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed around 1,200 people when it attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering war.

At least 47,500 Palestinians were killed in the offensive of Israel, according to the Ministry of Health managed by Gaza. About two thirds of Gaza buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks, said the UN.

Eli Sharabi, 52, was removed from Kibbutz Beeri with his brother, Yossi, whose death has since been confirmed. The wife of British origin of Eli, Lianne, and two daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were murdered in the attack.

Ohad Ben Ami, 56, was also taken from Kibbutz Beeri, as well as his wife, Raz. She was then released by Hamas.

Mr. Ben Ami, an accountant, is “known for his good judgment and his sense of humor”, according to the forum of hostages families.

Or Levy, 34, computer programmer of Rishon Lezion, a city south of Tel Aviv, fled the Nova festival with his wife Eynav, when armed men attacked the event.

Mr. Levy was taken hostage and Eynav’s body was found in a bomb shelter where the couple had hidden.

The Smarting and Family Forum disappeared published a statement on Saturday which said that “the disturbing images” of the version “serve another brutal and painful proof which leaves no room for doubt – there is no time to time Lose for hostages!

A few hours before publishing hostage names on Friday, Hamas accused Israel of not having respected its commitment to strengthen the amount of humanitarian aid authorized in Gaza as part of the cease-fire agreement.

The head of the Hamas media office in Gaza, Salama Marouf, told a press conference in Gaza City: “The humanitarian situation remains catastrophic due to Israeli obstruction”.

He said only 8,500 in 12,000 aid trucks had entered Gaza since the entry into force of the ceasefire and that medical equipment and shelter supplies had been deliberately delayed, according to the media .

The allegation contradicts the UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, who said Thursday 10,000 trucks with food, medication and tents had crossed Gaza since the start of the ceasefire in what he called “a massive push”.

Meanwhile, Marden Bibas, 34, an Israeli hostage which was released on February 1pleaded direct to Netanyahu to bring back his wife and children, who are still in captivity.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu, I am now addressing you with my own words … Bring my family, bring my friends back, bring everyone back home,” said Bibas in his first public declaration since his release .

Hamas said in November 2023 that Mr. Bibas’s wife, Shiri, and two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, had been killed in an Israeli air strike, without providing evidence. Israel has not confirmed the report.

Friday, in a separate development in the center of Gaza, hundreds of people – including armed fighters from Hamas – attended funerals organized for the superior military commander of Hamas, Marwan Issa.

Issa is considered one of the brains of the October 7 attack in Hamas. The Israeli army said he was killed in an air strike last March, but his death was only confirmed by Hamas last week.

The details of the exchange on Saturday were published while President Donald Trump continued to push his widely criticized proposal to move all the Palestinians from Gaza and redevelop him as an international travel destination.

His announcement – for The United States to “take control” of the Gaza Strip, Reinstall its Palestinian population and transform the territory into “Riviera du Middle East”-has complicated talks on the next planned stage of the ceasefire.

But Israeli negotiators should still meet mediators in Qatar later on Saturday.

Trump’s idea was strongly condemned by Arab countries and the UN.

Additional Mallory Moench reports