JERUSALEM – Hamas freed five hostages and was set to release one more from Gaza on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, after Israel confirmed that a body handed over hours earlier was that of hostage Shiri Bibas.
At a ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza, masked Hamas militants brought onto a stage Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23.
Cohen, Shem Tov, and Wenkert, all seized from the site of the Nova music festival in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, were handed over to the Red Cross to be transported to Israeli forces.
Dozens of masked militants stood guard in a crowd that had gathered to watch the handover, as Hamas men armed with automatic rifles stood on each side of the three hostages, who appeared thin and pale, as they were made to wave from the stage.
Tal Shoham, 40 and Avera Mengistu, 39, were released in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier.
A sixth hostage, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was expected to be released in Gaza City.
Al-Sayed and Mengistu have been held by Hamas since they entered Gaza of their own accord around a decade ago.
Shoham was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri along with his wife and two children, who were freed in a brief truce in November 2023.
REUTERS/AN-AFP