Jubilant crowds gathered in Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square” on Saturday, shedding tears of joy as they watched footage of four Israeli women hostages being freed by Hamas in Gaza. The crowd, waving Israeli flags and holding up images of the four young women, who are all soldiers, erupted into cheers as the footage of their handover to the Red Cross was broadcast on a big screen in the square.
The four women had been held hostage since the October 7, 2023 attack and were released as part of a truce deal in the ongoing Gaza war. The deal is also expected to facilitate the release of a second group of Palestinian prisoners. Israel confirmed on Friday that it had received a list of hostages due to return home, though the exact number of Palestinians to be released from Israeli detention has not been disclosed by either side.
The Israeli Hostage and Missing Families Forum identified the women set to be released as Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag. Albag, who turned 19 while in captivity, and the others are now 20 years old.
This release is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday, with the aim of leading to a permanent end to the conflict. The agreement was announced by mediators Qatar and the United States ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, with Trump later taking credit for securing the deal after months of unsuccessful negotiations.
Abu Obeida, spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed on Telegram that the brigades had decided to release the four women soldiers as part of the prisoners’ exchange deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that it had received the names of the hostages to be released through the mediators.
