Two more Israeli hostages released by militants in Gaza
Palestinian militants released two more hostages in the Gaza Strip on Saturday as part of the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
Live television broadcasts showed Yarden Bibas, 35, and Ofer Calderon, 54, being handed over to representatives of the Red Cross in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Three men in total were expected to be released from Gaza on Saturday, in exchange for Israel releasing some 90 Palestinian prisoners. Nine of them are serving life sentences.
The hostages kidnapped 484 days ago will first be taken to an Israeli military camp, where they will meet their families. They are then to be transferred to hospitals.
A truce in Gaza has held for nearly two weeks. Seventeen hostages have now been freed during this period, as well as hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
A three-phase ceasefire agreement that went into effect on January 19 aims to achieve a permanent end to the fighting and the release of all hostages still being held by the Iran-backed Hamas militia and their extremist allies.
During this initial six-week stage, 33 Israeli hostages are due to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Hamas has said that eight of the 33 hostages on the list for release during this phase are dead. It is unclear who exactly they are.
If three men are released as expected on Saturday, then there will be 79 hostages still in the Gaza Strip. Israel says 35 of them are dead.
Eight people were released on Thursday, including two German-Israelis, an Israeli soldier and five Thai workers who had been kidnapped during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Another exchange of hostages and prisoners is set for next weekend.
The deal also stipulates that the Israeli military is to withdraw from densely populated areas of the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed around 1,200 people in their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and took more than 250 Israelis hostage to the Gaza Strip.
The attack triggered the war in the sealed-off coastal area, where more than 47,400 people have been killed since then, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The number does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
