Hamas releases six last hostages in first phase of ceasefire agreement

Hamas released six more hostages in exchange for 600 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday in what is to be the last exchange in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.

The six included three Israeli men seized from the Nova music festival and another taken while visiting family in southern Israel when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in the 7 October 2023 attack that triggered Israel’s 16-month bombing campaign in Gaza.

Two other hostages had been held by Hamas for around a decade after each entered Gaza on their own.

Five of the captives were handed over in staged ceremonies that the Red Cross and Israel have condemned as cruel and disrespectful, escorted by masked, armed Hamas fighters in front of hundreds of Palestinians.

Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen were posed alongside Hamas fighters. A beaming Shem Tov kissed two militants on the head and blew kisses to the crowd.

Earlier on Saturday, two other hostages—Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38—were freed. Arriving in Israel, both were taken to medical centres for examination.

Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, entered Gaza on his own in 2014. His family told Israeli media that he has struggled with mental health issues.

Later, the Israeli military said the final hostage, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was released. The Bedouin Israeli crossed on his own into Gaza in 2015. His family has told Israeli media he was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Meanwhile, over 600 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel were exchanged for the release on Saturday, in what is the largest one-day prisoner release in the ceasefire’s first phase.

The truce deal has paused the deadliest and most devastating fighting ever between Israel and Hamas, but there are fears the war will resume after the first phase ends a week from now.

Hamas has said it will release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire.

Talks about the ceasefire’s second phase are yet to start, but there are fears that those negotiations will be more difficult.

Around 60 hostages, about half believed to be still alive, are yet to be unaccounted for by Hamas. The militant group is expected to release dozens of them in the second deal in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.