Hamas released six hostages from Gaza on Saturday, marking the final group of living captives to be freed under the ceasefire agreement that began last month.
In exchange, Israel is set to release approximately 600 Palestinian detainees.
The first two hostages, Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38, were handed over to Red Cross officials in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Shoham, who was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri along with his family, was the last of his relatives to be freed after his wife, children, and mother-in-law were released in November 2023. Mengistu, an Israeli from Ashkelon, had crossed into Gaza in 2014.
Later in the day, a separate transfer took place in Nuseirat, central Gaza, where three other hostages: Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Omer Wenkert, 23 were handed over in a public ceremony attended by thousands, including Hamas fighters.
The three men, who were kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, appeared to be in relatively stable condition. Shem Tov was seen engaging briefly with some of the Hamas fighters and blew a kiss to the crowd.
A sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, 37, an Arab-Israeli from a Bedouin community in southern Israel, was released in Gaza City. Al-Sayed had entered Gaza in 2015, and both he and Mengistu are reported to have serious mental health conditions.
The Israeli military confirmed that the hostages had crossed into Israel, where they would undergo medical assessments before being reunited with their families.
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Meanwhile, the Palestinian Prisoners Office stated that it had received a list of approximately 600 detainees expected to be freed in return. Among them, 50 had been serving life sentences, 60 had been given long sentences, and 445 were detained in Gaza following the October 7 attack.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog described the hostage deal as a “humanitarian, moral, and Jewish imperative,” adding that those freed were “returning from the depths of hell to begin the process of healing and recovery.”
Before their handover, Shoham and Mengistu were paraded on stage in Rafah, flanked by armed and masked militants. Shoham was made to address the gathered crowd before being transferred to the Red Cross.
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