The Israeli army announced on Saturday that the Palestinian militant Hamas movement has handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza, the Israeli hostage of Hišam Sajíd detained in the Gaza Strip since 2015. Hamas released six hostages on Saturday. Israel should liberate more than 600 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for prisoners. According to AFP and AP reports and BBC, TASR reports this.
The army, together with the Israeli Security Service in a joint statement, stated that the released hostage was on their way to their units in the Gaza Strip. Hišam Sajid comes from the community of Israeli Arab Bedouins in Israel and is the first Israeli Muslim, whose Hamas released as part of an agreement to release hostages and prisoners. He was captured by Hamas since 2015, when, according to the BBC, he himself went to the Palestinian enclave.
Saturday’s release of Israeli hostages occurred in three different locations. Hamas first released two Israeli hostages in Rafah, then released three more prisoners in Nusajrate. Sajíd handed over Hamas to the Red Cross in Gaza. His release was without a public ceremony, and the BBC pointed out that Hamas did not explain the reason why Sajid was released in private.
According to the BBC, the Israeli media reported that Sajid was released in private “out of respect” to the Arab community in Israel to which it belongs. According to previous Hamas statements, these are the last living hostage released during the first phase of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. The movement is supposed to return the remains of four people to the Palestinian enclave after the attack of 7 October 2023 the next week, according to the media.
On Saturday, Israel published a list of 602 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday shortly before the first two hostages. Among them should be 50 people who serve life sentences. More than 100 people will be deported abroad after being released.
The replacement of hostages and prisoners is part of an agreement on the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. As part of the first phase of the agreement, which came into force on January 19, a total of 33 Israeli hostages detained in the Gaza Strip in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons should be released.
