GAZA: Hamas freed four female Israeli soldiers on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners, the second swap under the Gaza truce, although Israel halted families from returning to bombed-out north Gaza over a delay in another captive's release.
The four freed Israelis were led onto 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, entering Red Cross vehicles to be transported to Israeli forces.
Soon after, buses carrying released Palestinian prisoners were seen departing from the Israeli Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank. Israel's Prison Service said all 200 had been released.
The releases on either side were greeted by cheering crowds, including Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv and Palestinians assembled in Ramallah.
But the failure to release another captive, a female Israeli civilian, led Israel to announce it was halting plans to let Palestinians return to northern parts of Gaza, the area worst hit in the war. Hamas said it would free her next week and called the halt to the reopening of the north a violation of the truce.
Palestinian officials say as many as 650,000 displaced people are waiting to return to the north from Sunday under the ceasefire. Witnesses said there was a stampede on a road leading to the north, blocked by Israeli troops who opened fire. Medics said three people were injured by suspected Israeli fire, one seriously.
The truce calls for Hamas to release 33 women, children, elderly, sick and wounded captives over a six-week first phase, with Israel freeing 30 prisoners for each civilian and 50 for each soldier.
The four Israeli soldiers freed on Saturday — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag — had all been stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza when Hamas fighters overran their base and abducted them during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that precipitated the war.
Their parents clapped and cried out in joy when they saw them on screen, watching the handover live from a nearby military base across the border. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis gathered at a rallying point crying, embracing and cheering as the release was aired on a giant screen.
The women were reunited with their families and then flown aboard helicopters to a hospital in central Israel. The 200 Palestinians freed on Saturday include fighters, some serving life sentences for involvement in attacks, according to a list published by Hamas.
Israel says those convicted of killing will not be permitted to return home. Around 70 will be deported to Egypt, Palestinian officials said and from there to another country.
Another 16 were sent to Gaza and the rest were released to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where cheering crowds waving Palestinian flags gathered in Ramallah to greet them.
Joy in Israel over Saturday's release was clouded by disappointment after it emerged that Arbel Yehud, 29, who had been abducted with her boyfriend from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, was not among those released on Saturday. SEE ALSO P6
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