KHAN YOUNIS (GAZA STRIP): Red Cross vehicles have arrived at a site in Gaza City where Hamas is set to release American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel, 65, as part of the fourth round of hostage releases in its ceasefire deal with Israel. Two other hostages — Yarden Bibas, 35, and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54 — were released earlier Saturday in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. In return for the three, Israel is to release dozens of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
The truce, which began January 19, is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group. The fragile deal has held for nearly two weeks, halting the fighting and allowing for increased aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory. A total of 33 Israeli hostages are expected to be freed in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during the truce’s initial six weeks. Israel says it has received information from Hamas that eight of those hostages were either killed in Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack or have died in captivity.
Two hostages arrived in Israel after Hamas handed them over to the Red Cross on Saturday as part of the fourth round of hostage releases during the Gaza ceasefire deal. Dozens of Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli prisons in return. The truce, which began January 19, is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Hamas militant group.
The fragile deal has held for nearly two weeks, halting the fighting and allowing for increased aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory. Both Yarden Bibas, 35, and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon, 54, had been abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, that sparked the war. The two initially headed to a reception point in a military base. Along the road, small groups of supporters waited for the convoys waving Israeli flags.
Hamas released them to the Red Cross in a ceremony in the city of Khan Younis where each climbed on a stage and waved to onlookers. Armed Hamas militants formed a line leading to the stage in an orderly handover, a contrast to the chaotic crowds that surrounded hostages during a handover Thursday, angering Israel. Another hostage, American-Israeli Keith Siegel, 65, is expected to be handed over in Gaza City to the north. Hundreds of fighters and onlookers gathered around a stage erected for the event, many carrying pictures of Hamas military leaders.
A total of 33 Israeli hostages are expected to be freed in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during the truce’s initial six weeks. Israel says it has received information from Hamas that eight of those hostages were either killed in Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack or have died in captivity.
Also on Saturday, wounded Palestinians are expected to be allowed to leave Gaza for Egypt through the Rafah crossing. It had been the only exit point for Palestinians during the war before Israel closed it in May. A European Union civilian mission was deployed Friday to prepare for the reopening of the crossing.
The reopening would mark another key step in the first phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 prisoners, the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory. The Health Ministry said 50 sick and wounded children are scheduled to be evacuated through Rafah crossing along with 61 companions.
In Israel, the release of Bibas has brought renewed attention to — and concern for — the fate of his wife, Shiri, and their two young sons. All four were captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz. A video of their abduction by armed men showed Shiri swaddling in a blanket her two redheaded boys — Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months old at the time.
Kfir was the youngest of about 250 people taken captive on October 7, and his plight quickly came to represent the helplessness and anger the hostage-taking stirred in Israel, where the Bibas family has become a household name. Hamas has said Shiri and her sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israel has not confirmed that, but a military spokesman recently acknowledged serious concern about their fates.
Yarden Bibas is believed to have been held separately from his family. Photos taken during his abduction appeared to show him wounded. Like Bibas, Kalderon was also captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz. In Kfar Saba, north of Tel Aviv, Kalderon’s family hugged and cheered as they saw the images of him climbing onto the stage in Khan Younis and being transferred to the Red Cross.
“Ofer is coming home!” they said, arms lifted to the sky. Ofer Kalderon’s two children, Erez and Sahar, were abducted alongside him and released during a ceasefire in November 2023. Family members said they weren’t able to recover from their ordeal until their father returned.
“We are sorry it took so long, Ofer,” said Eyal Kalderon. “We will soon be a whole family again. We hope other families will soon feel like this, until the last family.” French President Emmanuel Macron said France “shares in the relief and joy” of Kalderon’s return after 483 days of “unimaginable hell,” adding that France would continue doing all it can to secure the release of another French Israeli hostage still being held in Gaza.
Keith Siegel, originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, along with his wife, Aviva Siegel. She was released during the 2023 ceasefire and has waged a high-profile campaign to free Keith and other hostages. The dozens of Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel on Saturday include people serving lengthy and life sentences.
More than 100 hostages were released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023. About 80 more hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third of them believed dead. Israel says Hamas has confirmed that eight of the 33 to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire are dead. Israel and Hamas are set next week to begin negotiating a second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for releasing the remaining hostages and extending the truce indefinitely. The war could resume in early March if an agreement is not reached.
Israel says it is still committed to destroying Hamas, even after the militant group reasserted its rule over Gaza within hours of the latest ceasefire. A key far-right partner in Netanyahu’s coalition is calling for the war to resume after the ceasefire’s first phase. Hamas says it won’t release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
In the October 7 attack that started the war, some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory air and ground war, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.
The Israeli military says it killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in residential neighbourhoods.
