GAZA CITY: Hamas on Saturday released six Israeli captives from Gaza ahead of the release of 602 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, marking the final swap in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas 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.
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.
Hisham al-Sayed, was the last captive to be handed over to the Red Cross on Saturday.
The six are the last from a group of 33 to be freed in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, which took effect on January 19.
In return, 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.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog in a statement on X celebrated their release “from the depths of hell to begin the process of healing and recovery alongside their loving families.”
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 Hamas’s 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.
On Saturday, Hamas declared its readiness to move to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, reiterating that the completion of prisoner-hostage exchanges depends on Israel’s full adherence to the terms of the deal, particularly regarding the humanitarian situation in the enclave.
In a statement, Hamas stressed that the exchange of the six Israeli captives demonstrated its commitment to the terms of the agreement, while Israel’s continued “delaying tactics” were hindering the process.
Hamas warned Israel that they face a stark choice: “Either they receive their prisoners in coffins, as occurred on Thursday due to Netanyahu’s arrogance, or they embrace them alive, adhering to the conditions set by the resistance.”
The Palestinian group said, “Netanyahu’s attempts to distract from his military’s defeat in Gaza by committing massacres in the occupied West Bank will not break the will of our people or their resistance.”
For nearly two months, Israeli forces have been conducting military operations in northern West Bank refugee camps, particularly in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas.
The three-phase truce took effect last month, halting Israel’s war, which has killed more than 48,297 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
In the second stage of the deal, Hamas is supposed to release the remaining hostages, in exchange for hundreds more prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a permanent end to the fighting.
