Three Israeli hostages released in latest Gaza exchange

JERUSALEM - The Palestinian militant group Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages on Feb 1, and dozens of Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released in exchange, in the latest stage of

a truce aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza

.

Mr Ofer Kalderon, a French-Israeli dual national, and Mr Yarden Bibas were handed over to Red Cross officials in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis before being transferred to Israel.

Israeli-American Keith Siegel was handed over separately a few hours later at the Gaza City seaport.

Hours later, the first of 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees due to be released as part of the exchange got off a bus in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, where they were greeted by large crowds waiting to receive them.

Mr Bibas is the father of the two youngest hostages – baby Kfir, only nine months old when he was kidnapped by Hamas-led gunmen on Oct 7, 2023, and Ariel, who was four at the time of the cross-border attack.

Hamas said in November 2023 that the boys and their mother Shiri, who was taken at the same time, were killed in an Israeli air strike. There has been no word on them since.

At the newly reopened Rafah crossing on the southern border, the first Palestinian patients to be allowed to leave Gaza, including children suffering from cancer and heart conditions, were expected to cross over to Egypt in a bus provided by the World Health Organisation.

The handover on Feb 1 saw none of the chaotic scenes that overshadowed an earlier transfer on Jan 30, when Hamas guards struggled to shield hostages from a surging crowd in Gaza.

But it was once again an occasion for a show of force by uniformed Hamas fighters, who paraded in the area where the handovers took place in a sign of their re-established dominance in Gaza despite the heavy losses suffered in the war.

The handover brings the total number of hostages so far handed over to 18, including five Thais who were part of an unscheduled release on Jan 30.

After the Feb 1 exchange, Israel will have released 583 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including militants serving life sentences for deadly attacks as well as some detained during the war but not charged.

In Israel, crowds gathered at the location in Tel Aviv known as Hostage Square to watch the release on giant outdoor screens, mixing cheers and applause with tears as the three men appeared in the morning.

Mr Kalderon – whose two children, Erez and Sahar, were released in the first hostage exchange in November 2023 – and Mr Bibas both briefly mounted a stage in Khan Younis in front of a poster of Hamas figures, including Mohammad Deif, the former military commander whose death was confirmed by Hamas this week, before being handed over to the Red Cross officials.

“Ofer Kalderon is free. We share the immense relief and joy of his loved ones after 483 days of unimaginable hell,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement.

Negotiations on release of remaining hostages

As the fighting has gone quiet, diplomatic efforts to build a wider settlement have stepped up.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Feb 4, with the ceasefire in Gaza, and a possible normalisation of relations with Saudi Arabia as part of a postwar deal likely to be a focus.

During the first phase of the ceasefire, 33 children, women and older male hostages, as well as the sick and injured, were due to be released, with more than 60 men of military age left for a second phase which must still be negotiated.

Due to start by Feb 4 are negotiations on agreements for the release of the remaining hostages, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in a second phase of the deal, which is intended to lead to a final end of the war in Gaza.

The initial six-week ceasefire, agreed with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the US, has so far stayed on track, despite a number of incidents that have led both sides to accuse the other of violating the deal.

Mr Netanyahu’s government, which contains hardliners who opposed the ceasefire deal, and Hamas say they are committed to reaching an agreement in the second phase. But prospects for a durable settlement remain unclear.

The war started with a Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken as hostages. The Israeli military campaign has killed more than 47,000 people. Gaza lies in ruins and a deep legacy of bitterness and mistrust remains.

Israeli leaders have continued to insist that Hamas cannot remain in Gaza, but the movement has taken every opportunity to demonstrate the control it continues to exert despite the loss of much of its former leadership and thousands of fighters during the war.

As Gazans have slowly begun returning to their homes, the full extent of the devastation in Gaza after more than a year of bombardment has become clear, with reconstruction expected to take 10 to 15 years, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said this week. REUTERS