Hamas has released all 20 of the living captives it had been holding in the Gaza Strip, with the release of about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners by Israel under way, as the two sides carry out the conditions of the ceasefire deal.
Cheers broke out in Israel early on Monday, as television channels announced that the first lot of seven captives had been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Israeli military later confirmed that 13 more captives taken from Israel on October 7, 2023, who had been held in Gaza for more than two years, were also transferred.
Meanwhile, preparations for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails were progressing, with buses seen outside the Ofer military prison, in the occupied West Bank, where many of the Palestinian prisoners due to be released were held.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the prisoners would be released once Israel received confirmation that all the living captives were on Israeli territory.
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a post on X, identified the captives released in the first group as Guy Gilboa Dalal, 24, Eitan Mor, 25, Matan Angrest, 22, Alon Ohel, 24, Gali and Ziv Berman, both 28, and Omri Miran, 48.
Families were reunited with their loved ones before the released captives were flown to hospitals for medical treatment.
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, media’s Nour Odeh said the released captives were “reported to be in reasonable condition, walking without needing medical assistance”.
Ohel’s parents told The Times of Israel that their son “looks amazing” and is “standing on his own two feet”, while Mor’s mother told Ynet News that her son “looks great, although thin and pale”.
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