By james art 
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – Hamas fighters handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza on Saturday after they were parked in front of the crowd. Israel followed the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners or detained as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The four Israeli soldiers smiled broadly as they waved and gave their thumbs from a stage on the Palestinian Square of Gaza City, fighters on both sides of them, and a crowd of thousands who were watching before they were carried out to wait for vehicles on the Red Cross. They probably acted under coercion, having previously been hostage, saying they were held in brutal conditions and forced to record propaganda videos.
Later in Israel’s prison, she said she had completed the release of 200 Palestinians. These include 120 who served life sentences after being sentenced to lethal attacks against Israelis. About 70 were launched in Egypt, according to state -owned Qahera television in Egypt. Egypt had served as a key mediator in the conversations that led to the ceasefire.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the occupied city on the west coast of Ramala to celebrate the arrival of buses carrying prisoners. Many waved Palestinian flags or flags of different political factions.
As the four Israeli soldiers were released, hundreds of people cheered on Tel Aviv’s hostage square, where they watched the drama unfold on a big -screen television.
“I’m silent,” said Aviv Berkovic, one of the viewers. “I had goosebumps to watch them. I just want the war to end. “
Later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet released a video showing that the released hostages were greeted at an Israeli army base. One of them, Liri Albag, smiled, gave two thumbs up and made a heart shape with his hand before entering a van.
Israel insists on the release of a civilian hostage
Later, Netanyahu’s office stated that Arbel Yoved, a civilian hostage held by Hamas, had to be released on Saturday. It says that Israel will not allow the Palestinians to start returning to Northern Gaza, which was expected to start until Sunday until it was released.
A senior Hamas employee said the group had informed mediators that Yehoud would be out next week.
In the meantime, an Egyptian employee involved in the negotiations called the question “insignificant” that mediators work to resolve. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
The crowds in Tel Aviv, as well as in the city of Gaza, began to gather at the beginning of the day in anticipation of the second such exchange between Israel and Hamas, as the Gaza Strip began a truce last weekend. The excitement in Israel was tangible, with television stations filled with live reports by smiling news and reporters interviewing ecstatic friends and relatives of the hostages.
The truce is aimed at winding the most deadly and most destructive war, ever waged between Israel and the militant group. So far, the fragile deal has been holding, soothing air strikes and rockets and allowing increased help to enter the small coastal territory.
When the fire was stopped on Sunday, three hostages conducted by the fighters were released in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children.
Who are the soldiers and prisoners released?
The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniela Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, at the age of 20 and Albag, at the age of 19, were captured in Hamas on October 7, 2023, attacking the war.
In return, Israel agreed to release 200 prisoners, including 121, who served life sentences, according to a list published by Hamas.
More famous fighters include Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Qassim, 54, both from East Jerusalem. They were accused of carrying out a series of Hamas’s deadly attacks against Israelis, including a bombing at a cafe at Jewish University in Jerusalem in 2002, which killed nine people, including five US citizens.
Of the 70s that have been expelled to Egypt, some can eventually go to other countries, such as Algeria, Tunisia and Turkey, are willing to take them, according to Abdulla al-Zagari, head of the Palestinian Advocate Group.
The four liberated Israeli soldiers were taken from the base of Nahal Oz near the border with Gaza, when the Palestinian fighters overcame it, killing more than 60 soldiers there. All the abductors served in a unit of observations charged with threats of border monitoring. Fifth Woman Soldier in her ward, 20 -year -old Agam Berger, was abducted with them but was not included in the list.
“This is huge,” said Gaza resident Radvan Abban Ralia, one of the thousands who watched the hostages facing Palestine Square.
“People forgot about war, destruction and celebration,” he said.
In a television statement, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed that the released hostages were in Israeli hands and on the way home, criticizing what he calls the “cynical” public display of young Hamas women before their release.
He also said that Israel is concerned about the fate of the two junior hostages – CFI and Ariel Bibas – and their mother is wide. Cphir Bibas celebrated his second birthday in captivity earlier this month.
Agari said the army is committed to bringing all the hostages home.
What Next In the Fire Termination Deal
Israel was expected to start pulling back from the corridor of Netzarim-road from the east-west, dividing the gas into two-and allowing displaced Palestinians to the south to return to their former homes north for the first time since the beginning of the war.
But that seems to be in place waiting for Yehoud’s release.
Hamas’s interior ministry said he said earlier that the displaced Palestinians would be allowed to return to North Gaza from Sunday. The ministry, which is heading police forces, said the Palestinians would be able to move between the southern and northern gas on foot across the coastal road Rashid.
What happens after the initial six -week phase of the deal is uncertain, but many hope this will lead to the end of a war that leveled a wide layer of gas, displaced the vast majority of its population and left hundreds of thousands of people at risk from the risk of hunger.
The conflict began with a cross -border attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian fighters killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 other hostages.
The next month, over 100 hostages were released into a one -week truce. But dozens remain captured for more than a year without contact with the outside world. Israel believes that at least one -third of more than 90 captives still in Gaza have been killed in the initial attack or killed in captivity.
While many rejoiced in Tel Aviv Square after the four soldiers were released on Saturday, some were worried about the fate of those still captured.
“It’s hard that she’s still there,” says Yoni Collins, a family friend of Berger, a fifth woman soldier taken from the base of Nahal Oz.
“There were five girls, four are out and now she’s there alone,” he said. “We’re just waiting for her to go home.”
Israel’s air and land war, one of the most deadly and most destructive in decades, has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials who do not say how many fighters were. It is said that women and children make up more than half of the victims.
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Maggie reported from Cairo, Shurafa reported by Deir Al-Bala, Ivica Gaza. Joseph Federman in Jerusalem, Sam McNale from the Reim military base, Israel, Isabel Debre from Ramala, the West Coast and David Room in Bangkok have contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.