Hamas has released four female Israeli soldiers held in Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement, handing them over to International Committee of the Red Cross officials in Palestine Square in Gaza City.
Later on Saturday, Israel said 200 Palestinians were released from its jails, within the scope of the second exchange with Hamas under the truce deal sealed earlier in the month.
Ahead of the release in Gaza, scores of masked Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters gathered at the square where a large crowd of Palestinians also congregated.
The four women were led onto a podium, and waved and smiled before being led off, entering ICRC vehicles and being transported to Israeli forces.
Representatives of the ICRC and a Hamas fighter were seen signing documents ahead of the release.
Hamas identified the four female Israeli soldiers as Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag. The four captives, who were in Israeli military uniforms, waved to the crowd as they were released.
Meanwhile, buses carrying released Palestinian prisoners were seen departing from the Israeli Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank, soon after the captives were freed.
Israel’s Prison Service said all 200 prisoners have been released in line with the list published by Hamas.
Ibrahim Al Khaliji, reporting for Al Jazeera from Palestine Square, described the release as a “historic moment”.
Later on Saturday, the Israeli army confirmed it received the released soldiers from the Red Cross, adding that they will undergo a medical assessment.
“The four returning hostages are currently being accompanied by IDF [Israeli army] special forces and ISA [security agency] forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment,” the army said in a statement.
Unreleased captive
However, Israel also said a female civilian captive, 29-year-old Arbel Yehud, who was expected to be freed on Saturday, was not.
She was abducted with her boyfriend from their home in the Nir Ozsettlement in Israel, during Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023.
An Israeli military spokesman said it was a breach of the truce, while Hamas said it was a technical issue.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Palestinians in Gaza will not be allowed to cross back to the northern part of the territory until the issue is resolved.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had been displaced from northern Gaza during the war and many were expecting to return from Sunday.
However, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Palestinians will not be allowed to return to northern Gaza until Arbel Yehoud, one of the captives, is released. The statement said Yehoud was supposed to have been released on Saturday.
A Hamas official told Al Jazeera that Yehuda is alive and will be released next Saturday.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp, said many Palestinians consider Saturday’s exchange of captives and prisoners as very important as it will pave the way for their return to northern Gaza.
Khoudary quoted sources as saying that many displaced Palestinians were already massing near the Wadi Gaza area, getting to cross to the north starting on Sunday.
Saturday’s exchange was the second since a ceasefire began on January 19 and Hamas handed over three Israeli female civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinians held in Israeli jails
Among the 200 Palestinians released from Israeli jails non Saturday, 121 were serving life sentences, while 79 were serving long sentences.
The oldest prisoner is 69 years old while the youngest is just 15. Seventy Palestinians are due to be deported with Egypt expected to host them for 48 hours.
They will consequently be sent to Tunisia, Algeria and Turkey, which all agreed to receive them.
Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the release of Palestinian prisoners is a “huge relief” for families, although it is happening under the “horrible realities of [the Israeli] occupation”.
“These prisoners should have been released through a bigger deal that ends the conflict, that brings peace through negotiations, through ending occupation, but the harsh reality in Palestine is that as we talk, occupation continues,” Qarmout told Al Jazeera.
“Israel is just intensifying its attacks on the West Bank, confiscating more land, surrounding villages and towns,” he added.
Still, Hamas’s interest is to ensure the ceasefire holds and people are able to return to their homes, or to what’s left of them, Qarmout said.
In Tel Aviv’s central square, dubbed Hostages Square, a big screen showed the faces of the four female soldiers that were released. In the crowd, people waved Israeli flags, while some held posters with the captives’ faces.
“I’m extremely excited, exhilarated,” one person among the crowd, Gili Roman, told The Associated Press. “In a heartbeat, in a split of a second, their lives are going to turn upside again, but right now for a positive and a good side.”
As part of the deal, Israeli forces are also expected to withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza.
Israel is also expected to open the Rafah border crossing in the south for more humanitarian aid and other commercial supplies to enter.
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