Four Israeli soldiers have been released by Hamas after 15 nightmare months in Gaza.
Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, who are all 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were seen on Saturday stepping out of a Palestinian vehicle and were handed over to a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross after being paraded in front of a crowd in Gaza City.
Dozens of masked and armed Hamas and fellow Islamic Jihad militants gathered at a square, where a podium was set up.
A banner hanging off the stage read in Hebrew ‘Zionism will not prevail.’
The women were brought onto a stage after exiting the vehicle, as they beaned with joy and relief and waved to the crowds.
Meanwhile in Israel, thousands erupted with joy in a square in Tel Aviv, where family and friends of the hostages gathered to watch a livestream of their release.
Several Tel Aviv citizens could be seen crying, smiling and hugging each other as they held up placards showing the names and faces of the hostages.
The four women were then trasnported to the border of Gaza, where a helicopter waited for them.
The release of Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, who are all 20, and Liri Albag, 19, comes under the latest phase of the ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the 15-month-old war in Gaza
Four Israeli hostages stand on a stage before Hamas fighters hand them over to a team from the Red Cross in Gaza City on January 25, 2025
Dozens of masked and armed Hamas and fellow Islamic Jihad militants gathered at a square in Gaza City on Saturday, where a podium was set up, as a crowd of Palestinians gathered round ahead of their release
The Israeli Defence Force confirmed that the hostages had been transferred to the Israeli military by the Red Cross.
‘The four returning hostages are currently being accompanied by IDF special forces and ISA forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment’, the IDF wrote in a statement on X.
‘The commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces salute and embrace the returning hostages as they make their way home to the State of Israel.
‘The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit asks everyone to respect the privacy of the returning hostages and their families.’
The hostages will now be taken to designated locations in Re’im, Israel, before being transported by vehicle or helicopter to hospital, where they will undergo medical checks.
The Israeli Defence Force confirmed that the handover of the hostages was imminent in a statement on X: ‘The Red Cross organisation reported that four Israeli hostages were transferred to their custody, and they are making their way to the IDF and Shin Bet forces in the Gaza Strip’.
Their release comes under the latest phase of a fragile ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the 15-month-old war in Gaza.
The Hamas prisoners media office said it expected 200 prisoners to be freed on Saturday as part of the exchange, including 120 serving life sentences and 80 prisoners with other lengthy sentences.
Hamas said today that 70 of the 200 Palestinian prisoners set to be freed would be deported outside of Gaza and the West Bank.
Their identities have not yet been published but they are likely to include members of militant groups convicted for deadly attacks that killed dozens of people.
The four women released today were soldiers stationed at an observation post on the edge of Gaza when they were abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Today’s exchange is the second since the ceasefire began on Sunday last week and Hamas handed over three Israeli civilians in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas announced yesterday that the four female soldiers would be released, but cruelly, soldier Agam Berger, 20, was not included in the list, splitting up the families who have campaigned relentlessly together to bring them all home.
Hamas fighters escort four Israeli hostages on a stage before handing them over to a team from the Red Cross in Gaza City
Relatives and friends of Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip react as they watch the release of four women soldiers, at hostage square in Tel Aviv on January 25
Hamas militants on January 25 handed over to the Red Cross four Israeli women hostages under a truce deal in the Gaza war that is also expected to see a second group of Palestinian prisoners freed
People comfort each other and hold up photos ahead of the release of four Israeli hostages
An Israeli military helicopter lands at a base near Reim in preparation for the release of four hostages
Members from the Al-Qassam Brigades and Al-Quds Brigades are deployed at Palestine Square in Gaza City, Gaza on January 25, 2025, as preparations for further exchanges of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners under the ongoing Gaza ceasefire agreement continue
The International Committee of the Red Cross received a call from Hamas on Saturday to head to the designated transfer point in Gaza
Video of the abduction of the five female soldiers aired in May, showing the conscripts, pyjama-clad and stunned and some bloodied, being bound and bundled into a jeep.
The footage was recovered from bodycams worn by gunmen who attacked the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel where the women served as surveillance spotters.
The mothers of the five women held in Gaza tirelessly campaigned for the release of their daughters, and ultimately made the agonising decision to release the horrifying three-minute Hamas Go Pro video in a desperate bid to get politicians to fight for them.
The horrific clip showed the young women limping, injured and bloodied as their hands are bound.
They are lined against the wall by Palestinian terrorists having been taken from Nahal Oz base during their mandatory National Service as unarmed observers.
‘You dogs, we will step on you.’ One screams at the girls. Another of the terrorists is seen pointing at the girls calling them ‘Sabaya’, an ancient islamic term that can mean female sex slave, before leering over Karina in her snoopy pyjamas, saying: ‘You are so beautiful.’
Earlier this month Hamas also released a sickening hostage video of the youngest of the hostages released, Liri Albag, who was seen shaking and crying as she begged her government to save her.
The list released by Hamas of the hostages it was set to release was also notable for the absence of the female civilians, Arbel Yehud, 29, and Shiri Bibas, 30, as well as her sons Kfir, two, and Ariel, five, who should have been released before female soldiers.
Israeli hostage, Liri Albag, a soldier who was seized from her army base in southern Israel during the deadly October 7, 2023
Daniela Gilboa is among the four female Israeli soldiers to be freed on Saturday
Karina Ariev is among the four female Israeli soldiers who were held hostage for 15 months
Naama Levy is one of the hostages currently being held in Gaza and set to be freed on Saturday
The Israel Defence Forces and representatives of the families called on commentators not to speculate on their status as Israeli officials accused Hamas of violating the terms of the deal.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded to know why no civilians are set for release. Officials warned the continuation of the deal may be delayed.
Agam Berger’s cousin Ashley Waxman Bakshi, 38, told the Mail the terror group is using the hostage release to continue its ‘psychological warfare’ against Israelis.
‘It is so cruel and evil that the five girls are being split,’ she said hours before the announcement that her relative would not be freed today.
‘It’s just awful because we’ve done everything together for the past 15 and a half months.
‘It really is the highest level of evil and psychological warfare they’re doing to the families by ripping us apart like that.’
She was speaking at a ceremony where Agam’s mother Meirav, 48, prayed for her daughter’s safe return in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
Mrs Berger, supported by her husband, Shlomi, 52, said in a prayer: ‘The return of our beloved daughters is approaching, God willing. We are counting the minutes and waiting with bated breath for everyone’s return.’
Mrs Berger finished the prayer by adding: ‘This land will not rest until all our hostages are home. This is my promise.’
The first phase agreement that will see 33 hostages freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners states that Hamas must let Israel know who it is freeing 24 hours in advance.
But on the first week they were 18 hours late and have still not stated how many of those due to be released imminently are alive.
It means Israelis face a torturous wait each week to discover who is living and who will be freed. Ms Waxman Bakshi compared it to some of the darkest days of Jewish history.
‘It’s just an awful feeling that we’ve gone back to the days of the Holocaust, where we have lists determining who’s going to have what fate.’
Hamas should let Israel know today how many of the 30 hostages remaining in the first phase are alive. But it is feared they won’t name them, only state the number of the living out of each category – women, elderly, and sick – to prolong the families’ suffering.
It is hoped Agam will be freed next Saturday. She was doing national service as an unarmed observer at Nahal Oz base when she was taken captive along with Daniella, Naama, Karina, and Liri.