DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Israel is expected to release 602 Palestinians from its prisons as part of the latest exchange.
Hamas has released two of six Israeli captives from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons as part of the final swap under the first phase of the ceasefire between the Palestinian group and Israel.
Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39, were handed over to the Red Cross in Rafah in southern Gaza on Saturday after they were led onto a stage by armed Hamas fighters. Four more captives are expected to be released on Saturday in Nuseirat in central Gaza.
The six are the last from a group of 33 to be freed in the first stage of the ceasefire, which took effect on January 19.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Nuseirat, said a large crowd has gathered to witness the release of the four captives.
“We see reinforcements from the Qassam Brigades in order to maintain order and safety of the process,” he reported, referring to Hamas’s armed wing. “Compared with past handovers, the scene here at Nuseirat looks more organised.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera before the release, Professor Sami al-Arian from Istanbul Zaim University said the elaborate staging of the handover is a way for Hamas to signal it is responsible stakeholders by “showing the whole world that they were trying to keep them [the captives] alive, keep them safe”.
Later on Saturday, Israel is expected to release 602 Palestinians held in its jails. It includes 445 people detained by Israeli forces during its war on Gaza as well as dozens serving lengthy or life terms, according to Hamas.
The fragile ceasefire had been threatened with derailment by the misidentification of a body released on Thursday as that of Shiri Bibas, who was taken captive with her two young sons and husband in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
Late on Friday, Hamas handed over Bibas’s body, which her family said had been confirmed to be hers.