Hamas released six hostages on Saturday, the last living hostages slated for release under the first phase of the tenuous ceasefire agreement struck last month.
The six hostages were turned over to the Red Cross for transport into Israel in three groups. The first released were 40-year-old Tal Shoham and 39-year-old Avera Mengistu, according to Fox News. Hamas terrorists escorted them to Red Cross vehicles after holding a staged ceremony in front of hundreds of cheering Palestinians. Israel has condemned such displays.
Omer Wenkert, 23, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Eliya Cohen, 27, were released in the second group. Hamas terrorists conducted another ceremony for them, bringing the trio out in military garb — though none were soldiers — before handing them to the Red Cross.
Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was the last of the hostages to be released to the Red Cross on Saturday. Al-Sayed and Mengistu had each been held in Gaza for more than a decade after venturing into the Hamas-run enclave on their own.
The Israel Defense Forces posted several videos of the returning hostages.
3,821 days.
10 years apart.Avera Mengistu’s family has suffered his absence for a decade, not knowing if he was safe or even alive. Today, they can finally hold him again. pic.twitter.com/grhNjPsgZg
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 22, 2025
Omer Shem Tov is home.
After 505 days, Omer is back in Israel and finally reunited in the arms of his parents. pic.twitter.com/ZU5MQLjHd1
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 22, 2025
For 505 days, his family dreamed of this hug.
Today, that dream is reality—Omer Wenkert is home. pic.twitter.com/hPpvbDYYXN
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 22, 2025
Israel is set to release 620 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday as part of the ceasefire agreement, according to NBC News. The release, the largest of the ceasefire so far, will contain over 150 prisoners serving lengthy sentences and hundreds of prisoners taken after the October 7 terror attack.
With the last living hostages released under the first phase of the agreement, it remains unclear whether the agreement will continue to phase two. The ceasefire has lasted tenuously for over a month despite multiple violations Israel said Hamas committed. Images of the released hostages, often showing emaciated victims of abuse, have riled Israeli leaders and the public.
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The next phase of the agreement would involve the release of Israeli military members and more remains held captive by Hamas.
The latest violation of the agreement came on Thursday when Hamas terrorists turned over the remains of who the terror group said were the Bibas family. While forensic testing confirmed the remains of the Bibas children – 4-year-old Ariel and 9-month-old Kfir – tests showed that the remains said to be of their mother, Shiri, were actually that of an unnamed Palestinian woman.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a “cruel and wicked violation” of the ceasefire agreement. Hamas blamed the incident on a mistake and turned over more remains that were identified on Saturday as those of Shiri Bibas.
Forensic testing on the remains of the children revealed that they were likely killed in November 2023 through strangulation, according to the IDF. Hamas had claimed that the children were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
“Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood. The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterwards, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said.