Hamas freed the first two of six Israeli hostages due to be released on Saturday (February 22, 2025) at the same time as heightened rigidity between the adversaries clouded the future of the fragile ceasefire deal.
The two hostages — Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38 — have been put into Red Cross autos after being introduced out onto a stage by masked and armed Hamas fighters in entrance of a crowd in the southern Gaza metropolis of Rafah. Soon after, the Israeli army confirmed that the two had been introduced into Israel.
The latest hostage launch, to be adopted by the liberating of a whole bunch of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, goes forward after tensions mounted over a grisly and heart-wrenching dispute triggered this week when Hamas initially handed over the incorrect physique for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mom of two younger boys kidnapped by militants.
The stays that Hamas transferred together with her sons’ our bodies on Thursday have been later decided to be these of an unidentified Palestinian lady. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for “a cruel and malicious violation,” whereas Hamas instructed it had been a mistake.
On Friday evening, the small militant group believed to have been holding Bibas and her sons — the Palestinian Mujahedeen Brigades — mentioned it handed over a second physique. On Saturday morning, Bibas’ household mentioned Israeli forensic authorities had confirmed the stays have been hers.
“For 16 months we sought certainty, and now that it’s here, it brings no comfort, though we hope it marks the beginning of closure,” the household mentioned.
The dispute over the physique’s id raised new doubt about the ceasefire deal, which has paused over 15 months of warfare however is nearing the finish of its first section. Negotiations over a second section, in which Hamas would launch dozens extra hostages in exchange for an enduring ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal, are possible to be much more troublesome.
The six hostages being freed Saturday are the final dwelling ones to be released below the ceasefire’s first section. The new releases introduced a second of pleasure and reduction for households, however with the ceasefire’s future unsure, fears stay over the destiny of the remaining hostages seized throughout the Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas that killed 1,200 in Israel and ignited the warfare.
“This is an unforgettable moment, where all emotions are rapidly mixing together. Our Tal is with us,” Shoham’s household mentioned in a press release, calling for a deal the be reached for the launch of all these nonetheless captive. “There is a window of opportunity; we must not miss it.”
Shoham, who also holds Austrian citizenship, was visiting his wife’s family in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas militants stormed into the community during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. Shoham’s wife, two young children, and three other relatives who werfe abducted with him were freed in a November 2023 exchange.
Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, had been held in Gaza since entering on his own in 2014. Watching the handover on Israeli media, Mengistu’s family broke out into a Hebrew song, “Here is the Light,” as they saw him for the first time in more than a decade.
The others to be freed Saturday include Eliya Cohen, 27; Omer Shem Tov, 22; and Omer Wenkert, 23. All three were abducted from a music festival during the Oct. 7 attack. Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, who also crossed into Gaza on his own years ago, is also to be returned to Israel as part of the deal.
More than 600 Palestinians jailed in Israel will be freed in exchange, the Palestinian prisoners media office said Friday. The prisoners set for release include 50 serving life sentences, 60 with long sentences, 47 who were released under a previous hostage-for-prisoner exchange and 445 Palestinians who were seized by Israeli troops in Gaza since the war began.
Hamas has said it will also release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire. If that plan is carried out, Hamas would retain about 60 hostages, about half of whom are believed to be alive.
Hamas has said it won’t release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu, with the full backing of the Trump administration, says he’s committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing capacities and returning all the hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive.
Trump’s proposal to remove about 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so the U.S. can own and rebuild it has thrown the ceasefire into further doubt. His idea has been welcomed by Netanyahu but universally rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries.
Trump said Friday that he was “a little surprised” by rejections of the proposal by Egypt and Jordan and that he would not impose it.
“I’ll tell you, the way to do it is my plan. I think that’s the plan that really works. But I’m not forcing it. I’m just going to sit back and recommend it,” Trump said in a Fox News interview.
Israel’s military offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble. At its height, the war displaced 90% of Gaza’s population. Many have returned to their homes to find nothing left and no way of rebuilding.
Published – February 22, 2025 02:46 pm IST
