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Two Israeli hostages, including a man held captive for over ten years, have been released by Hamas under the first phase of a fragile ceasefire with Israel.
Tal Shoam, 40, who was seized from Kibbutz Be’eri on 7 October 2023, and Avera Mengistu, who has been held since when he crossed into Gaza in 2014, were both handed over to International Red Cross officials in Rafah, southern Gaza.
The Israeli military said the pair had now crossed into Israel where they were due to meet their families. They are two of six Israeli hostages set to be released on Saturday.
Omer Shem Tov, 22, Eliya Cohen, 27, and Omer Wenkert, 23, who were all seized from the Nova Festival on 7 October 2023, are also set to be freed. The final release is expected to be Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, a Bedouin Arab Israeli man who his family says struggles with mental health challenges. He crossed into Gaza in early April 2015 and has been held by Hamas ever since.
The latest hostage release, along with the freeing of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Isreal, is going ahead after a heart-wrenching and grisly dispute over the last exchange. Hamas initially handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two young boys abducted by militants. Shiri, her two toddlers – one of them just eight months old – were killed in Gaza – her body was handed to Israel overnight Friday.
More than 600 Palestinians jailed in Israel will also be freed on Saturday 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 prisoners from Gaza arrested since the war began. Among them will be Nael Barghouti, the longest serving Palestinian detainee who has spent more than 40 years, or two thirds of his life, behind bars.
However his family that is based in the occupied West Bank told The Independent he is being deported to Egypt and barred from returning home, while Israel has also prevented them from travelling to be reunited with him.
In Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis gathered in the rain cheering as they watched the release on a large screen. In the south of the country along the border with Gaza, more people lined the road to welcome the convoy carrying the freed captives.
The six Israeli hostages are the final living captives to be freed under phase-one of the fragile ceasefire – Hamas said it will also release four more bodies next week. Under the agreement, 33 hostages were set to be released under the first phase, which comes to an end at the beginning of March.
If everything is carried out, Hamas would retain about 60 hostages, about half of whom are believed to be alive.
The family of Mr Shoham, who was seized alongside his wife Adi, their children Nave, 8, and Yahel, 3, as well as other family members, called his release an “unforgettable moment”. Adi, Nave and Yahel were released during the November 2023 exchange deal.
“At this crucial moment in our lives, our only request is to seize this window of opportunity to secure a deal that will bring fathers back to their children – children need their fathers – and return all hostages home,” they said.
“There is a window of opportunity; we must not miss it,” they added.
The family of Mr Mengistu, said he had endured over a decade of “unimaginable suffering”.
“During this time, there have been continuous efforts to secure his return, with prayers and pleas, some silent, that remained unanswered until today,” they added.
Meanwhile Aman Nafa, the wife of soon-to-be-released prisoner Nael Barghouti, told The Independent that she had been informed Nael would be deported to Egypt and not permitted to return home. She said Israel had also forbidden her and other families from travelling to Egypt to visit the released detainees.
“Nael is going to be released but [Israel] will deport him outside. I am happy that he is safe but not happy that they prevented me from seeing him,” she said.
“So I am in the house between [being] happy and crying.”
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