The ceasefire in Gaza sees a smooth exchange of the hostages while the Rafah border reopens to get help

Khan Younis, Gaza Strip (AP) – The ceasefire in Gaza saw its most fluid exchange to date of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and the crucial crossing of Rafah reopened its days before the discussions on the second much more difficult phase of the truce .

These talks begin on Monday, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, giving him a chance to present his links with the ally closest to Israel and file a complaint for what should Coming after 15 months of 15 months of war.

Many details on the second phase of the ceasefire must still be developed, but it calls for the release of the remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce in the deadliest and most destructive war of all time between Israel and Hamas. The fighting could resume in early March if an agreement is not concluded.

Hamas released three male hostages on Saturday, and Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth exchange of this type. The next one is scheduled for next Saturday.

Activists presented Argentinian-Israelis and French-Israelis Bibas Ofer Kalderon to the Red Cross managers in the southern city of Khan Younis, while the American-Israelis Keith Siegel, pale and thin, were handed over later in the city of Gaza.

All three were taken during October 7, 2023, an attack led by Hamas against Israel which sparked the war. Eighteen hostages have now been released since the start of the ceasefire on January 19.

The latest outings were rapid and ordered, unlike the chaotic scenes on Thursday when armed activists seemed to have trouble holding a crowd. On Saturday, activists stood in rows while the hostages went up on a scene and beckon.

Hamas has sought to show that he remains in control in Gaza even if a number of its military leaders have been killed, while posting anti-Israeli slogans during transfers.

In the hostages of Tel Aviv Square – a name it was given after the start of the war – thousands of people watched the transfer on a large screen, applauding.

A bus later left an orr military prison with more than two dozen Palestinian prisoners for the West Bank occupied by Israeli. The jubilant crowds applauded and hoisted the prisoners on their shoulders. Many seemed fragile and thin.

The Israeli penitentiary authority said the 183 prisoners set for Liberation had been released. In another sign of progress in the ceasefire, they included 111 which were arrested after the attack on October 7 in Hamas but which were not involved. They had been detained without trial and had been released in Gaza. Seven perpetuity sentences were transferred to Egypt.

Joy and relief, but fears for those who are still held

Siegel, 65, from Chapel Hill, in North Carolina, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, with his wife, Aviva. She was released during a brief ceasefire of 2023 and led a high-level campaign to release the remaining hostages.

There were relief sighs and cheers while Kibbutz members looked at the Liberation of Siegel.

“You can see that he has lost a lot of weight, but he walks and speaks and you can feel that he is always him. And one of the first things he told us is that he is always vegan” said Siegel’s niece, Tal Wax.

The liberation of Bibas, 35, drew renewed attention to the fate of his wife, Shiri, and their two sons, Ariel and Kfir, aged 4 years and 9 months when they were removed from Kibbutz Nir Oz .

KFIR was the youngest of the 250 people who were taken captive on October 7, and his fate came to represent helplessness and anger in Israel.

Israel expressed a “serious concern” for the wife and children of Bibas and begged negotiators to provide information. Hamas said they had been killed in an Israeli air strike, but Israel did not confirm it.

After his release, Bibas closed his eyes while his father, Eli, and Sister Ofri hugged him and cried. “Honey,” said her father.

“A quarter of our hearts came back to us,” the Bibas family said in a statement.

Kalderon, 54, was also captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His two children, Erez and Sahar, were taken next to him and released during the ceasefire earlier.

“I’m here. I’m here. I haven’t abandoned,” Kalderon said, kissing.

There were similar scenes among the released Palestinians.

“Admittedly, it is an indescribable feeling, and without a doubt a mixed feeling of sadness and joy, because we left our brothers in captivity,” said Mohammad Kaskus, who had been sentenced to 25 years for attacks against Israelis.

The Palestinians who had been condemned for their link with deadly attacks against the Israelis described difficult conditions, blows and other abuses in prison. The Israeli penitentiary authority did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

The ceasefire brings a respite to Gaza beaten

The ceasefire takes place for two weeks, allowing hundreds of aid trucks to flow into the tiny coastal territory and for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to return to broken houses in northern Gaza.

And Saturday, 50 sick and injured Palestinian children left Gaza for treatment with the Rafah border in Egypt while the only exit from the enclave open for the first time since Israel captured it nine months ago .

During the first phase of the six-week ceasefire, 33 Israeli hostages must be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says he has received information from Hamas that eight of these hostages have died. About 80 hostages remain in Gaza, of which at least one third would have died.

Israel says he is committed to destroying Hamas. The militant group says that he will not release the remaining watches endless to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Powerful Arab nations have again rejected Trump’s suggestion to move Palestinians who are now homeless, from Gaza to neighboring Egypt and Jordan in a temporary or long -term decision so that, as Trump said, “we Let’s clean it all. “

About 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed in the attack that sparked the war. More than 47,000 Palestinians were killed in war and war on the ground in retaliation in Israel, more than half of them, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many deaths were militants.

The Israeli army says it killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. He blamed Hamas’ civil death because his fighters operate in residential neighborhoods.

___

Isseid reported to Beitunia, in the West Bank. Journalists from the Associated Press Moshe Edri at Reim Military Base, Israel; Paz bar in Kfar Saba, Israel and Isabel Debre in Ramallah, in the West Bank, contributed to this report.