TEL AVIV, Israel — Four female Israeli soldiers who were taken in the attack that sparked the war in Gaza returned to Israel on Saturday after Hamas militants paraded them before a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and handed them over to the Red Cross. Israel later released 200 Palestinian prisoners in the second exchange of a fragile ceasefire.
The four Israelis smiled, waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage in Palestine Square, with armed, masked militants on either side as Hamas sought to show it remained in control in Gaza after 15 months of war. The hostages likely acted under duress. Previously released ones said they were held in brutal conditions and forced to record propaganda videos.
Israel’s Prison Service said it released 200 Palestinians, including 121 people serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis, while others were held without charge. Thousands of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah celebrated their arrival. Wan-looking and wearing gray prison sweatsuits, some donned Hamas headbands given to them by the crowd and rode on supporters’ shoulders.
In the deal’s first major crisis, Israel said it would not allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza by Sunday as anticipated, because civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud was not released as expected.
As mediators addressed that, hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the east-west Netzarim corridor dividing Gaza.“Why are they treating us like this?” asked one man, Khalil Abd. Families huddled around bonfires against the winter cold.
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man close to the Netzarim corridor, Palestinian medical officials said. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots in response to “gatherings of dozens of suspects.” It said it was unaware of anyone harmed.
Israel insists on release of civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would not allow Palestinians into northern Gaza until Yehoud, taken from a kibbutz in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, was freed.
Hamas said it held Israel responsible for “any delay in implementing the agreement and its repercussions.”
A senior Hamas official said the group informed mediators that Yehoud will be released next week. An Egyptian official involved in negotiations called the matter a “minor issue” that mediators were working to resolve. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The U.S. National Security Council continues to push for Yehoud’s release, a spokesperson said.
The ceasefire began last weekend with the release of three hostages and 90 prisoners. It is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas. The deal has allowed for a surge of aid into tiny, devastated Gaza.
