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Gaza ceasefire: 4 Israeli soldiers freed in exchange for 200 Palestinians, says Hamas

Hamas identified on Friday the four hostages to be released in the second swap, but Israel has not commented officially

Published: Sat 25 Jan 2025, 12:04 PM

Updated: Sat 25 Jan 2025, 1:41 PM

  • By
  • Reuters

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Photo: Reuters File

Photo: Reuters File

Palestinian group Hamas freed four female Israeli soldiers on Saturday, in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners to be freed, under a ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the 15-month-old war in Gaza.

Hamas handed the soldiers over to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday, live TV showed.

The four were led onto a podium in Gaza City amid a large crowd of Palestinians and surrounded by dozens of Hamas men. They waved and smiled before being led off and entering ICRC vehicles that will transport them to Israeli forces.

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Hamas released a list of 200 Palestinians expected to be freed on Saturday as part of the exchange, including 120 serving life sentences and 80 prisoners with other lengthy sentences.

70 of the 200 Palestinian prisoners would be deported outside of Gaza and the West Bank, according to a statement by the group.

The four soldiers – Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag – were all stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza and taken away by Hamas fighters on October 7, 2023.

Saturday's exchange would be the second since the ceasefire began on Sunday and Hamas handed over three Israeli civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners. Live video showed armed Hamas men arriving at a Gaza City square ahead of the release.

Hamas identified on Friday the four hostages to be released in the second swap, but Israel has not commented officially.

The Red Cross will receive them from Hamas in Gaza and hand them over to Israeli forces who will transport them into Israel, where they will be reunited with family, undergo initial medical treatment and taken to hospital. Another female soldier is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The ceasefire agreement, worked out after months of on-off negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt and backed by the United States, has halted the fighting for the first time since a truce that lasted just a week in November 2023.

In the first six-week phase of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails, while Israeli troops pull back from some of their positions in the Gaza Strip.

In a subsequent phase, the two sides would negotiate the exchange of the remaining hostages, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, which lies largely in ruins after 15 months of fighting and Israeli bombardment.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, since October 7, 2023, according to health authorities.

1,200 people have been killed in Israel and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

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