The soldiers were delivered in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement
(Folhapress) – The terrorist group Hamas released on Saturday (25) four Israeli military personnel captured during the October 7, 2023 attack that began the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Soldiers were delivered in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement in force since last Sunday (19).
As a demonstration of strength, Hamas organized a military parade in Gaza to free the Israelis, with dozens of armed men leading them to a podium with messages for the release of Palestine before delivering them to the International Red Cross Committee. A crowd of Palestinians accompanied the event.
The soldiers are Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag. They patrolled at an observation post at the Israeli border and the Gaza Strip when they were captured by Hamas during October 7. When they were loose, they smiled and waved to the Palestinians before entering the red cross vehicles.
In Israel, a live broadcast of hostage families, who attended TV liberation on a military base on the border, showed their relatives shouting with happiness as they see images of the military being released. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis gathered in a square hugged, cried and celebrated the news.
According to Israel’s Armed Forces, soldiers have already found their families and will be taken to a hospital. Buses carrying the freed Palestinian prisoners as part of the agreement have already left the two arrests where they were: one is in the busy West Bank and the other in the Negev desert.
Videos recorded by the Israeli army show the reunion of Israelis with their parents -they hug each other with strength and cry. Karina Ariev’s mother, in tears, says in Hebrew: “You’ve come back, my love, you’re back.” Daniella Gilboa, hugging her mother, says, “Mom, you’re a lioness.”
In an official message to the hostage families, Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said that “the entire nation cries and rejoices with you at this time.”
The release of the Palestinians happened hours after expected because Hamas, contrary to what had been agreed, did not let go of a civil hostage along with the military. This is because the agreement required the liberation of civilians and children before the military.
Shiri Silberman Bibas’s family, one of the Civilians still held by Hamas along with his two sons, Kfir and Ariel, told Israeli press to be “devastated and extremely concerned about their well-being” after the news that only four Military would be released on Saturday.
Israel accused the terrorist group of violating the deal, while Hamas said it was only a technical failure and that it will be released next week.
In retaliation, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the armed forces of his country will not allow the Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the north of the territory until this hostage is released.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced because of the war, and many of them now return only to find wreckage where they once lived.
In response, Hamas said that Israel slows the implementation of ceasefire by preventing the north of the Gaza strip and that Tel Aviv will be responsible for “delays in the agreement and its repercussions on future phases.”
In the first exchange of the agreement, Hamas released three hostages in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, including women and adolescents.
The 200 prisoners released on Saturday, in turn, include persons sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorist attacks that killed dozens of Israelis.
In total, excluding prisoners in Gaza, Israel has 10,000 Palestinians in its power, between convicted of attacks and prisoners without formal accusation, suspected of “crimes against the security of the State of Israel”, according to the Armed Forces.
The initial agreement provides for the release of 1,900 of them. About 90 Israeli hostages are still held by Hamas in Gaza.
