Gaza Strip, February 22 (HS): The ceasefire and hostage release agreement between the terrorist group Hamas and Israel in Qatar last month brought happiness to the faces of many families today. Hamas' masked armed fighters handed over Omer Shem Tov (22), Elia Cohen (27) and Omer Wenkert (23) to Red Cross officials in Nuseirat, central Gaza this morning (local time). Apart from this, Tal Shoham (40) and Avera Mengistu (38), who were freed from Hamas' captivity, reached Israel. The sixth hostage to be released in Gaza City is Hisham al-Saeed (37).

Hamas has laid conditions for the release of the remaining hostages in the next phase of the agreement.

According to The Times of Israel, Avera Mengistu and some of her family members were airlifted to an Israeli military base near the Gaza border. From there, everyone was taken by an Israeli Air Force helicopter to a hospital in central Israel. Mengistu will be sent home after examination. Shoham and Mengistu were released in the morning in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Both of them were kidnapped from Kibbutz Beri on October 7, 2023.

According to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the Red Cross handed over both of them to them. Apart from this, four hostages were handed over in Nuseirat. Hamas said on Friday that it expected Israel to release 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in return. 50 of them were sentenced to life imprisonment and the other 60 are serving long sentences. 445 were detained in Gaza on October 7, 2023.

According to CNN news, Shoham and Mengistu were paraded on stage by armed masked terrorists and Shoham was forced to address the crowd. Also, the remains of another hostage Shiri Bibas arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday night. Hamas today indicated that in the next phase of the agreement it is ready to hand over all the remaining Israeli hostages (alive and dead) in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar