The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has handed over the four hostages released by the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas to the Israeli military, Israeli forces confirmed on Saturday.
The four women are now on their way to a reception point in southern Israel, where they will undergo a medical examination and be reunited with their families, before being taken to a hospital for further examinations, a military spokesman said.
Hamas had earlier handed the hostages over to the ICRC in a square in the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning. Live television images showed the women being led onto a stage to wave to the crowd gathered in the square, before boarding the ICRC vehicles.
According to a previously released list, the hostages are the female soldiers Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev and Daniella Gilboa.
They were all scouts at the Nahal Oz base near the Gaza Strip border and were abducted by militants during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023.
Dozens of uniformed and masked Hamas fighters with weapons and flags were stationed at the handover point in Gaza City, surrounded by onlookers, images from Qatar’s Al Jazeera television channel showed.
A three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered in mid-January and is initially set to last for six weeks.
The first stage of the ceasefire agreement foresees the release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, while the Israeli military is to withdraw from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.
According to the agreement, Israel is to release 50 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons for every female soldier, including 30 people serving life sentences.
A total of 200 Palestinians are to be released in exchange for the latest group of four female soldiers. Some of them are to be transferred abroad in accordance with the ceasefire agreement because of the crimes they have committed.
The first exchange took place last weekend, when Hamas released three Israeli citizens in exchange for 90 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Some 90 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, more than 30 of whom have been declared dead, according to Israeli information.
The Gaza war was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, during which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 abducted. The subsequent war in Gaza has left large parts of the coastal strip in ruins.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry has recorded more than 47,000 deaths in Gaza since the beginning of the war. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
In the wake of a temporary ceasefire at the end of November 2023, Hamas released 105 hostages. In return, Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners.
