Hamas militants yesterday handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza City after parading them in front of a crowd.
Israel was set to release 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees later in the day as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The four smiled broadly as they waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage in Gaza City’s Palestine Square, with militants on either side of them and a crowd of thousands watching, before they were led off to waiting Red Cross vehicles. They were likely acting under duress.
Photo: Reuters
As they were released, hundreds of people cheered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square where they were watching the drama unfold on a big screen television.
“I’m speechless,” said Aviv Bercovich, one of the onlookers. “I had goosebumps watching them. I just want the war to end.”
Israel confirmed that the hostages were with its forces not long after they were driven away from the handover in Gaza City by the Red Cross.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said that Arbel Yehoud, a civilian hostage held by Hamas, was supposed to have been released yesterday.
It said Israel would not allow Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza until she is freed.
The crowds in Tel Aviv and also in Gaza City began gathering earlier in the day in anticipation of the second such exchange between Israel and Hamas since a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip last weekend.
The excitement in Israel was palpable, with TV stations filled with live reports from smiling news anchors and reporters interviewing ecstatic friends and relatives of the hostages.
The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the militant group. The fragile deal has so far held, quieting airstrikes and rockets and allowing for increased aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory.
When the ceasefire started on Sunday last week, three hostages held by the militants were released in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children.
The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.
In exchange, Israel was to release 200 prisoners, including 121 who were serving life sentences, according to a list released by Hamas. Of those, the list indicated that 70 would be expelled from Gaza and the West bank, but did not say where.
The more notorious militants being released include Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Qassim, 54, both from east Jerusalem. They were accused of carrying out a series of deadly Hamas attacks against Israelis, including a bombing at a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2002 that killed nine people, including five US citizens.
The four soldiers released were taken from Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when Palestinian militants overran it, killing more than 60 soldiers there.
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
NINE-IN-ONE ELECTIONS: Prosecutors’ offices recorded 115 cases of alleged foreign interference in the presidential election campaign from August 2023 to Dec. 13 last year The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said that it has begun planning early to counter Chinese interference in next year’s nine-in-one elections as its intelligence shows that Beijing might intensify its tactics, while warning of continued efforts to infiltrate the government and military. The bureau submitted a report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of a meeting today of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. “We will research situations in different localities and keep track of abnormalities to ensure that next year’s elections proceed without disruption,” the bureau said. Although the project is generally launched during election years, reports of alleged Chinese interference
RSS