Israel and Hamas executed the group’s second prisoner exchange in Gaza City during the current ceasefire agreement on Saturday.
Hamas gave up four Israeli female soldiers — Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19 — in exchange for 200 Palestinians who had been detained in Israeli prisons. The Israeli women were dressed in green clothes and forced to take the state for photos before being directed to Red Cross vans. They were taken to an Israeli military facility across the border.
Around 70 of the 200 Palestinian prisoners were released into Egypt. 121 of them were serving life sentences for killing Israelis.
This is the second swap of this ceasefire, which went into effect Jan. 19.
To date, Hamas has released seven hostages since the ceasefire, which is set to last for six weeks. They have agreed to release 26 more hostages during this first phase of the agreement, which only accounts for roughly a third of the hostages Hamas is believed to be holding. Israel has agreed to release 30 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons in exchange for one Israeli civilian hostage, and 50 for every female IDF soldier.
The current ceasefire deal details that female hostages are to be released before Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said their withdrawal plans are on pause, because he expected 29-year-old Arbel Yehud, another female citizen taken hostage by Hamas, to be among those released Saturday.
The 26 hostages will be released in increments, like the two iterations of three and four hostages who have been released so far.
Israel and Hamas have not formally agreed on what will happen once the six-week ceasefire comes to an end, and both sides have very different preferred outcomes.
Hamas wants the war to end permanently, which would allow for the U.S.-designated terrorist group time to regroup, reconstitute, and reassert governing authorities over the Gaza Strip, all of which are things Israeli leaders have said were non-negotiable non-starters.
Despite the lack of a clear pathway forward, the second phase is expected to include Hamas releasing all remaining living hostages in exchange for Israel completely withdrawing its military presence from Gaza. The third phase, if agreed upon, would likely include Hamas giving up the bodies of any remaining hostages in exchange for the beginning of the reconstruction of the enclave.
Hamas carried out its surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of roughly 1,200 people, and they kidnapped roughly 250 others. The attack, which many of the terrorists filmed, shocked the Israeli public and prompted the government to assume a war footing.
Since then, Israel has fought on several fronts, severely crippling Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed proxy focused on Israel’s destruction, as well as the Houthis in Yemen. Israel and Iran have exchanged direct military attacks, a very stark divergence from their usual espionage warfare.
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Israel’s war against Hamas has devastated the Gaza Strip. Nearly the entire population has been displaced and faces humanitarian essentials insecurity, and the death toll from the war is believed to be around 45,000 people; militants and civilians combined.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November, which is set to expire in the coming days.
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