Female civilian hostage will be released next week, Hamas says
A female Israeli civilian held hostage in the Gaza Strip will be released next week, Hamas informed mediators, after Israel said she should have been freed on Saturday, a Hamas official told Reuters.
The hostage, Arbel Yehud, will be released next Saturday, the official said.
Key events
Military vehicles have been spotted lining up at the Israeli Ofer prison in the West Bank city of Beitunia, awaiting the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a swap for four Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza.
Female civilian hostage will be released next week, Hamas says
A female Israeli civilian held hostage in the Gaza Strip will be released next week, Hamas informed mediators, after Israel said she should have been freed on Saturday, a Hamas official told Reuters.
The hostage, Arbel Yehud, will be released next Saturday, the official said.
The four Israeli female soldiers held captive by Hamas in Gaza were reuinted with their parents inside Israel on Saturday, the military said.
The four “have arrived at the initial reception point in southern Israel where they are being reuinted with their parents”, the military said in a statement, adding they were acompanied by army medics and would undergo “an initial medical assessment”.
Israel will not allow Palestinians’ return to north until hostage dispute resolved, says Netanyahu
Israel will not allow Palestinians to cross into northern Gaza before the issue of a female civilian hostage it had been expecting to be released on Saturday is resolved, prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said.
Earlier, Israeli military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said in a post on X that Hamas had not abided with the ceasefire agreement with Israel to release Israeli civilians first.
His statement came after Hamas released four female Israeli soldiers in return for 200 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas fighters handed over four more Israelis held hostage to the Red Cross today as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel.
Large crowds gathered in Gaza City to watch as four young Israeli women in military uniform were freed and placed in vehicles to be taken back to Israel.
The four are Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20 and Liri Albag, 19, who all served with the Israel Defense Forces. They were seen flanked by Hamas militants and smiling and waving to the crowds before being ushered into Red Cross vans.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, thanked international mediators, the US, Qatar and Egypt, for their efforts. “We expect them to make sure Hamas stands in accordance with the agreement.”
He said that IDF troops will continue to be deployed and operate “to do everything to protect the citizens of Israel”. Hagari added:
Our mission is not over until every single hostage comes home.”
IDF says Hamas ‘failed to meet its obligations’ to first release female civilian hostages
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, R Adm Daniel Hagari, has been speaking on TV about the four female Israeli soldiers released by Hamas today. He said they have crossed the border in to Israel.
“Today … we welcomed home four more Israeli hostages after 477 days in Hamas captivity,” he said. “Today we salute and embrace them and their families as they reunite just now after so long.”
He added:
We cannot and will not forget the 90 hostages, including women, children and elderly men, [that] still remain in brutal conditions in Hamas captivity.
Hamas failed to meet its obligations to first release Israeli female civilian hostages as part of the agreement.”
Here are some more images coming in on the newswires showing the four female Israeli hostages that have been handed over by Hamas today, and the reaction in Tel Aviv:
The Israeli army have said that the four freed Israeli hostages are to undergo an initial medical assessment upon their return to Israel.
If you missed it earlier, we shared a post on who the four Israeli female soldiers freed on Saturday are. You can find it here.
Israeli forces confirm receiving the four released hostages
Israeli forces have confirmed that they have received the four released hostages, reports Reuters citing Channel 13.
Earlier, Israeli soldiers were pictured preparing a helipad at the Beilinson Schneider complex in Petah Tikva, Israel, ahead of the arrival of the four released Israeli hostages as part of a prisoner-hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. Here is an image, via the newswires:
Crowds have gathered in Hostage Square, Tel Aviv, to follow the news of the release of four female Israeli soldiers held hostage by Hamas:
Another image of the four Israeli hostages released today by Hamas has been published:
Hamas hands four Israeli hostages over to ICRC in Gaza
Four female Israeli hostages in military uniform have entered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) vehicles.
The four were led on to a podium in Gaza City amid a large crowd of Palestinians and surrounded by dozens of armed Hamas men. They waved and smiled before being led off and entering ICRC vehicles that will transport them to Israeli forces.
Here is an image taken from the live stream.
