The activists led by Hamas released three Israeli civilian men with a emaciated fragile aspect that they have held in the past 16 months on Saturday, and Israel Frequently released dozens of Palestinian prisoners as part of a fragile agreement that interrupted war in the Gaza Strip.
Before a crowd of hundreds, armed Hamas The fighters led Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56 years old, and / or Levy, 34, on a stage, where they were forced to make a public statement before being submitted to the Red Cross.
The three were among the 250 people kidnapped during the attack led by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war. They seemed to be in a much poorer physical condition than the other 18 hostages released so far during the ceasefire that started on January 19.
Regarding sparks in the state of the hostages
The emaciated state of the hostages and the ceremony managed by the scene – a gap compared to the previous hostages outings where the captives were not made to speak – aroused indignation in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said “we will not accept the shocking scenes” which took place. The statement did not set any punitive measures.
The head of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, said that the “difficult scenes” were reasons to extend the truce with Hamas and bring the dozens of remaining hostages.
In an apparent response to the concerns of the health of liberated hostages, the Hamas military wing, the Qassam brigades, said it “made efforts to preserve their lives despite the bombing (Israeli)”.
Many Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons during the ceasefire also appeared emaciated and pale, and allegedly allegedly and ill-treatment in the Israeli guard.
The current phase of the truce, which takes place until the beginning of March, does not seem to have been affected by the superb proposal of the American president Donald Trump to transfer the Palestinian population of Gaza, welcomed by Israel but vehemently rejected by the Palestinians and Most international community.
But that could complicate conferences during the second more difficult phase, when Hamas must release tens of more hostages in return for a lasting ceasefire. Hamas can be reluctant to release more captives – and lose its main negotiation currency – if it believes that the United States and Israel are serious about depopulating the territory, which, according to defense groups, would violate the international law.
It was the fifth exchange of hostages for prisoners during the ceasefire. Before Saturday, 18 hostages and more than 550 Palestinian prisoners had been released.
Get national news
For news that has an impact on Canada and worldwide, register for the safeguarding of news alerts that are delivered to you directly when they occur.
The gap appearance of the three hostages “evokes the horrible images of the release of the camps in 1945, the darkest chapter in our history,” said the forum of the hostages, a group representing parents of most of the captives. “We have to take out all the hostages from hell. There can be no more delays. »»
The first phase of the ceasefire calls for the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 prisoners, the return of the Palestinians to the north of Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory. Last week, the injured Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza for Egypt for the first time since May.
Who was released on Saturday?
Sharabi and Ben Ami were both captured from Kibbutz Beeri, one of the hardest affected agricultural communities during the attack by Hamas. Levy was removed from the Nova Music Festival, where he was preparing in a safe room when the activists arrived.
Sharab’s wife and two teenage girls were killed in the attack. His brother Yossi was also removed and died in captivity. Levy’s wife was killed during the attack and her 3 -year -old son was treated by relatives.
We do not know if one or the other man knows what happened to their families.
Ben friend, father of three children, was kidnapped with his wife, Raz, who was released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
Parents of the hostages applauded, applauded and cried while they were looking at live images from their loved ones going out.
Levy’s brother Michael said that his brother’s young son Almog said said that his father was on the way.
“Mogi, we found dad,” said Michael Levy, said to the boy, using his nickname, in an interview with Israel Channel 12. “We have not seen happiness like that in him for a long time.”
The 183 Palestinian prisoners published on Saturday by Israel include 18 people serving perpetuity sentences for deadly attacks against the Israelis, 54 serving long -term sentences and 111 Palestinians of Gaza which were detained after the attack on October 7 but n ‘ tried no crime. All are men aged 20 to 61.
Almost all the Palestinians have a friend, a parent or an knowledge that has been imprisoned.
More than 100 hostages were published during a one-week ceasefire in November 2023. More than 70 are still in Gaza, and Israel said that 34 of them are dead. Israel says Hamas confirmed that eight of the 33 will be released during the first phase of the truce are dead.
The next phase of the ceasefire is uncertain
It is not clear if Israel and Hamas began to negotiate a second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the release of the remaining hostages and the extent of the truce indefinitely. The war could resume in early March if no agreement is concluded.
Israel says that he is still determined to destroy Hamas, even after the militant group reaffirmed his Gaza rule in the hours following the ceasefire. A far-right partner of the Netanyahu coalition calls on war to take over the first phase of the ceasefire.
Hamas says that it will not publish the remaining hostages endless to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
During the October 7 attack, some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed. More than 47,000 Palestinians were killed in war and war on the ground in retaliation in Israel, more than half of them, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many deaths were militants.
The Israeli army says it killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. He blamed Hamas’ civil death because his fighters operate in residential neighborhoods.
Higher activists among Palestinian prisoners began to release
Of the 72 prisoners released on Saturday, five are from East Jerusalem, 14 from the Gaza Strip and the 53 others of the occupied West Bank. Seven must be transferred to Egypt before continuing the expulsion.
In total, 47 prisoners were released on Saturday from OFER prison in the West Bank and transferred to the Palestinian guard near Ramallah where dozens of parents, friends and supporters welcomed some of them encouraging and applauding. An extremely fragile prisoner was directly charged with a bus in an ambulance for emergency treatment.
Palestinian security detainees were arrested on offenses ranging from bombing attacks to participation in militant organizations, in some cases dating from decades.
They include Iyad Abu Shakhdam, 49, who has been locked up for almost 21 years for his involvement in Hamas attacks in crowded civilian areas that killed dozens of Israelis during the Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s. included a bombing of notorious suicide bus in 2004 in the city of the southern desert of Israel of Beersheba who killed 16 people, including a 4 -year -old child.
Another is Jamal Al-Tawil, an eminent Hamas politician in occupied West Bank and former mayor of the village of Al-Bireh, at the idea of Ramallah.
He spent nearly two decades in and outside the Israeli prison, the army reporting his last arrest in 2021 for his alleged participation in violent riots and his efforts aimed at attracting the management of Hamas to the West Bank. He was transferred to administrative detention, a period of six months renewable on several occasions during which the suspects are held without charges or trials.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians want the three territories for their future state.