Hamas freed two hostages on Saturday in change for greater than 600 Palestinian prisoners as a part of the delicate ceasefire settlement with Israel.
The lads have been recognized as Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39. Video footage confirmed the 2 males trying frail and scared as they have been taken to a stage in entrance of a crowd whereas flanked by masked gunmen. They have been handed over to the Purple Cross and have been on their technique to IDF forces.Â
An extra 4 hostages – Omer Wenkert, 23; Omer Shem Tov, 22; Hisham Al-Sayed, 36; and Eliya Cohen, 27 – have been anticipated to even be launched later Saturday.Â
Two of the hostages — Mengistu and Al-Sayed — are civilians who’ve been held since coming into Gaza on their very own greater than a decade in the past, lengthy earlier than the conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault in opposition to Israel, which prompted army retaliation from Israeli forces.
This comes as the fragile ceasefire deal reached a month in the past stays in place regardless of latest revelations that hostage Shiri Bibas’ physique was not initially returned to Israel as promised by Hamas.
REMAINS OF SHIRI BIBAS, MOM OF TWO KILLED, ALLEGEDLY RETURNED TO ISRAEL FOLLOWING HAMAS’ BROKEN PROMISE
A boy holds a weapon as he stands subsequent to a Hamas fighter standing in place forward of handing over 4 our bodies to the Purple Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Hamas would “pay the complete value” for allegedly handing over the physique of a Palestinian lady from Gaza as a substitute of the physique of the Israeli hostage. The hostage’s sons — Ariel and Kfir Bibas — together with Oded Lifshitz have been returned by Hamas on Thursday as anticipated.
Late Friday, Hamas mentioned it handed over Shiri Bibas’ physique to the Purple Cross, which confirmed it had obtained human stays inside Gaza and transferred them to Israeli authorities. Bibas’ household confirmed her id early Saturday.Â
TERROR GROUP RESPONDS AFTER FAILING TO RETURN THE BODY OF MURDERED HOSTAGE SHIRI BIBAS
Purple Cross automobiles arrive to gather coffins containing 4 our bodies that have been handed over by Hamas militants in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
Hamas mentioned it “has no real interest in withholding any our bodies in its possession.” The phobia group mentioned the lifeless hostages handed over on Thursday had been killed by an Israeli airstrike in November 2023 and that the our bodies may have been misidentified attributable to bombardments within the space.
A poster exhibits Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped to Gaza together with her husband and two younger sons on Oct. 7, 2023, in Jerusalem, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP)
The phobia group additionally killed Ariel and Kfir Bibas “with their naked palms,” in line with the Israeli army, which didn’t supply proof to help the declare.
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Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari alleged that forensic evaluation of the Bibas boys’ our bodies confirmed that Hamas “didn’t shoot the boys,” however “killed them with their naked palms” after which “dedicated horrific acts to cowl up these atrocities.” Hagari mentioned Lifshitz was killed by captors inside Gaza.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
