CNN
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Hamas freed four female Israeli soldiers in a second round of releases under a ceasefire deal that also saw Israel accusing Hamas of failing to fulfil its obligations to release civilians first.
Some 200 Palestinian prisoners are due to be released in return as part of the truce aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza.
The four freed Saturday – Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy – all 20 years old – and Liri Albag, 19 – had been held in Gaza since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
Hamas militants took the the women, dressed in makeshift military uniforms, on stage in Palestine Square in Gaza City before handing them to the Red Cross. They appeared elated as they waved to the crowds, with Israelis visibly emotional as they watched the live pictures in Hostages Square, Tel Aviv.
Hamas put on show of force during the handover, waving green flags and displaying a poster of current and former Israeli leaders alongside the word “failure,” in what seemed to be a message to Israeli that it remained powerful despite it being battered by the Gaza offensive.
Soon after the releases, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Saturday that civilians in Gaza will not be allowed to move to their homes in northern Gaza as planned – because an Israeli female civilian due to be released Saturday was not among those freed.
Israel has been pushing for the release of Arbel Yehud, 29, who was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Israel says she is a civilian and should have been released Saturday.
A senior source in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement (PIJ) told CNN on Saturday that it holds Yehud, claiming she was a soldier and “was being held captive by [the PIJ’s military wing] al-Quds Brigades as a trained soldier in the Israeli army’s space program.” There is no evidence that Yehud has had such a role.
A second PIJ source outside Gaza told CNN that Yehud was alive.
An Israeli official confirmed to CNN that the Israeli military will not allow Gazan civilians to cross into the north until Yehud was in the hands of Israel or until the process of her release starts.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the four hostages released Saturday have been reunited with their families. The family of Daniella Gilboa expressed their joy at her release from Gaza.
“We just want to hug her, to see her and hug her. And to say to her that she is safe now and everybody is waiting for her,” Gilboa’s aunt, Dekele Sherabi, told CNN.
Following the hostage release, the Israeli military was clearing the streets around Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank ahead of the expected prisoner release, according to a CNN team on the ground.
Hamas said it expects Israel to release around 200 Palestinian prisoners, including 120 prisoners serving life sentences and 80 others with high sentences, on Saturday as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal.
