Four Israeli hostages were reunited with their families as 200 Palestinian prisoners were released

Hamas freed four female Israeli prisoners after 15 months of captivity in Gaza.

The four hostages freed on Saturday - Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag - had been held in Gaza since the Hamas onslaught on October 7, 2023. The female soldiers, aged 19 to 20, were among seven taken from the Nahal Oz military camp, where they worked as lookouts, watching activities in Gaza.

During their handover in Palestine Square in Gaza City, Hamas led them on stage while dressed in fake military uniforms before handing them to the Red Cross. They were subsequently delivered to the Israeli military and returned to Israel, where they have now been reunited with their loved ones.

Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag, Naama Levy, and Karina Ariev, four returning Israeli captives, have arrived at Beilinson Hospital outside Tel Aviv, accompanied by their parents.

A throng of several hundred people gathered at the hospital's helipad to welcome the former captives, who had been carried there by military aircraft from a facility in southern Israel.

The Israeli prison service stated on Saturday that 200 Palestinian inmates had been released as part of the truce and hostage release agreement.

Prisoners from Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank were transferred to other West Bank locations, according to the prison service. Meanwhile, convicts from Ktzi'ot prison, a Negev detention facility, will be transported to the Kerem Shalom border in the south.

Hamas earlier stated that it anticipated Israel to free some 200 Palestinian inmates, including 120 serving life sentences and 80 others serving lengthy terms.