Hamas releases 3 frail-looking Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners under Gaza cease-fire
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DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas-led militants released three gaunt, frail-looking Israeli hostages Saturday, and Israel freed 183 Palestinian prisoners as part of the fragile cease-fire agreement that has paused the war in the Gaza Strip.
The hostages’ condition and scenes of the militants forcing them to speak in a staged release ceremony sparked outrage in Israel and could increase the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the cease-fire beyond its current six-week phase.
Netanyahu has signaled he would resume the war, even if that meant leaving dozens of remaining hostages in Hamas captivity. “President Trump completely agreed with me: We will do everything to return all the hostages, but Hamas will not be there,” Netanyahu said after the exchange.
Before a crowd of hundreds, armed Hamas fighters led the hostages — Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34 — onto a stage to make public statements before handing them over to the Red Cross.
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The three civilian men were among about 250 people abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war.
The joy of some Israelis watching their release turned to shock and tears when they saw their emaciated state. The men appeared in much poorer physical condition than the previous 18 hostages released during the cease-fire that began Jan. 19.
Later Saturday, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom also appeared gaunt and weak. The Red Crescent said seven were taken to hospitals.
A Palestinian woman who lost 10 children and her husband shelters in her shattered Gaza home, where four of her youngest remain buried under rubble.
Many Palestinians released during the cease-fire have appeared emaciated and pale, and have alleged abuses in Israeli custody.
It was the fifth exchange under the cease-fire agreement.
The Red Cross said it was “increasingly concerned about the conditions surrounding release operations” and urged all parties to ensure releases are dignified and private.
Hostages’ condition sparks concern
An Israeli Health Ministry representative, Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, noted “severe malnutrition” and a “significant decrease” in body weight among the hostages released, as families again feared for the dozens of hostages still held in Gaza. Not all are alive.
“We will not remain silent about this. A message has been passed on to the mediators, and action will be taken accordingly,” said Gal Hirsch, Netanyahu’s coordinator for hostages.
Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it had “made efforts to preserve their lives despite the [Israeli] bombardment.”
The cease-fire’s first phase calls for the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, the return of Gazans to the north of the territory and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated enclave. Israel says Hamas has confirmed eight of the 33 hostages are dead.
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This phase does not appear to have been affected by Trump’s controversial proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza, which was welcomed by Israel but vehemently rejected by Palestinians and most of the international community.
But it could complicate talks over the second and more difficult phase, when Hamas is to release dozens more hostages in return for a lasting cease-fire. Hamas may be reluctant to free more captives — and lose its main bargaining chip — if it believes the U.S. and Israel are serious about depopulating the territory, which rights groups say would violate international law.
Netanyahu on Saturday directed a delegation to go to Qatar to discuss the cease-fire agreement’s technical details, and the security Cabinet will meet about negotiations on the truce’s second phase, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss details of the talks with the news media.
Who was released Saturday?
Sharabi and Ben Ami were both captured from Kibbutz Beeri, one of the farming communities heavily targeted in the attack; Levy was abducted from the Nova music festival.
They were only now learning the fate of some family members, according to Israeli media. Sharabi’s wife and two teenage daughters were killed, and his brother Yossi died in captivity. Levy’s wife was killed. Ben Ami’s wife, Raz, was released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023 that saw more than 100 hostages freed.
“It’s over, it’s over,” Levy’s brother Michael said as they embraced.
“I left XXL, I came back medium,” Ben Ami said as he hugged his daughters. One of them, Ella, told Israeli Channel 12 that “it took me a moment to realize that this was my father.”
The Palestinian prisoners released include 18 serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis, 54 serving long-term sentences and 111 Palestinians from Gaza detained after the Oct. 7 attack but not tried for any crime. All are men between the ages of 20 and 61.
Virtually every Palestinian has a friend, relative or acquaintance who has been imprisoned.
Seven of the released prisoners were transferred to Egypt ahead of further deportation. Others were transferred to Palestinian custody near Ramallah in the West Bank, where cheering supporters welcomed them. Some had been detained over offenses such as bomb attacks and involvement in militant organizations.
They include Iyad Abu Shakhdam, 49, who has been locked up for nearly 21 years over his involvement in Hamas attacks in crowded civilian areas that killed dozens of Israelis during the Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s. That included a 2004 suicide bus bombing in Israel’s southern city of Beersheba that killed 16 people.
Another is Jamal al-Tawil, a prominent Hamas politician whose last arrest was in 2021 over his alleged participation in riots and efforts to entrench Hamas’ leadership in the West Bank. He was transferred to administrative detention, a repeatedly renewable six-month period in which suspects are held without charge or trial.
War could resume in March without a deal
The war — the deadliest and most destructive fighting ever between Israel and Hamas — could resume in early March if no agreement is reached.
Israel says it is still committed to destroying Hamas, even after the militant group reasserted its rule over Gaza within hours of the cease-fire. A key far-right partner in Netanyahu’s coalition is calling for the war to resume after the cease-fire’s first phase.
Hamas says it won’t release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
In the Oct. 7 attack, some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory war, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The Israeli military says it killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas for operating in residential neighborhoods.
Associated Press writers Shurafa and Jahjouh reported from Deir al Balah and Goldenberg from Tel Aviv. AP writer Isabel Debre in Ramallah contributed to this report.
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