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 beamed 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 transported to the border of Gaza, where a helicopter waited for them.
Around an hour after being handed over to the Red Cross, the Israeli Defence Force confirmed that the four hostages had arrived back in Israel.
“The four returning soldiers, Daniela Gilboa, Liri Elbag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev, have now crossed the border into Israeli territory with IDF and Shin Bet forces,” the IDF wrote on X.
“The returnees, accompanied by IDF and Shin Bet forces, recently crossed the border into the territory of the State of Israel and are now on their way to the initial absorption point in the Gaza Strip, where they will meet with their parents.”
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari also said in a televised speech that Israel ‘cannot and will not forget’ the 90 hostages who remain in Gaza.
The hostages were then taken to designated locations in Re’im, Israel, before being transported by vehicle or helicopter to hospital, where they will receive medical checks.
It was confirmed that they had been reunited with their parents.
The IDF also shared an emotional clip of the families of the hostages laughing, crying and clapping as they watched the four women being released.
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.
