Hamas has released five Israeli captives from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons in the final swap under the first phase of the ceasefire between the Palestinian group and Israel.
The first two captives, Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu, were handed over to the Red Cross in Rafah in southern Gaza on Saturday, February 22, 2025, after they were led onto a stage by armed Hamas fighters.
Three more captives – Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert and Omer Shem Tov – were later released to Red Cross officials in Nuseirat in central Gaza in a separate ceremony.
According to Palestinian sources, Hisham al-Sayed, the sixth captive, will be handed over to Israeli authorities without a ceremony.
The 37-year-old Bedouin Israeli, who was taken captive when he entered Gaza in April 2015, is expected to be handed over at a location in Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave.
Hamas did not give any explanation why there was a last-minute change of the plan to release four captives in Nuseirat.
The six are the last from a group of 33 to be freed in the first stage of the ceasefire, which took effect on January 19, 2025.
Later on Saturday, Israel is expected to release 602 Palestinians held in its jails.
It includes 445 people detained by Israeli forces during its war on Gaza as well as dozens serving lengthy or life terms, according to Hamas.
The fragile ceasefire had been threatened with derailment by the misidentification of a body released on Thursday as that of Shiri Bibas, who was taken captive with her two young sons and husband in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
Late on Friday, Hamas handed over Bibas’s body, which her family said had been confirmed to be hers.
Speaking to reporters before the release, Professor Sami al-Arian from Istanbul Zaim University said that the elaborate staging of the handover is a way for Hamas militants to signal that they are responsible stakeholders by “showing the whole world that they were trying to keep them [the captives] alive, keep them safe.”
Hamas Poised To Free All Remaining Captives At Once If Conditions Met
Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for Hamas, stressed that Hamas confirms its seriousness in completing all stages of the captive-prisoner exchange operations.
He said that the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the group, has forced Israel “to cross the red lines it set for itself on [Palestinian] prisoner release, breaking the shackles of a number of symbols of the prisoner movement.”
He added that the group is ready “to carry out a single [prisoner] exchange operation in the second stage in exchange for the occupation’s commitment to a sustainable ceasefire, withdrawal from Gaza, and the release of our prisoners from its prisons.”
Additionally, Abdul Latif al-Qanou, a spokesman for Hamas, says Israel’s commitment to the remaining terms of the agreement and the “implementation of the humanitarian protocol” would guarantee the completion of the future captive-prisoner exchange operations.
He said in a statement on Telegram, “33 days have passed since the first phase started without the occupation completing the full implementation of the terms of the agreement.”
He said that the situation in Gaza is catastrophic, which requires mediators to pressure the “occupation to implement the humanitarian protocol and provide our people with shelter and relief supplies.”
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