فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
Gaza – February 22, 2025: On Saturday, Hamas released six Israeli hostages from Gaza in the seventh exchange for Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire agreement in place since January 19, 2025, in the Palestinian territory devastated by 15 months of war.
As with previous releases, armed and masked fighters from the Palestinian Islamist movement displayed five of the hostages on podiums, in front of large banners honoring Hamas fighters killed in the conflict, before handing them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC then transferred the hostages to the Israeli army in vehicles for their return to Israel, where they were hospitalized.
Separately, the Israeli army announced the discreet handover of the sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, 37, a Bedouin Israeli held captive in Gaza for nearly a decade, to the ICRC away from cameras.
Details of the Release
Of the six hostages released on Saturday, four—Tal Shoham (40, an Israeli-Italian-Austrian), Avera Mengistu (38), Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, and Omer Wenkert (aged 22 to 27)—were kidnapped during Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. After 505 days in captivity, the hostages appeared smiling in some instances, though they were coerced into addressing the crowd, with microphones occasionally malfunctioning.
Under the rain in Rafah (southern Gaza), fighters in military uniforms, some armed with automatic weapons and others with rocket launchers, deployed for the first two releases, with Hamas flags flying over destroyed buildings where Gazans gathered. In Nuseirat (central Gaza), the same scenario repeated for the release of Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, and Omer Wenkert, who were abducted from the Nova music festival in southern Israel, near Gaza.
Reactions and Criticisms
These public displays have repeatedly drawn criticism from Israel, the United Nations, and the Red Cross, who describe them as the exploitation of hostages for propaganda purposes. In Rafah, Palestinian Fidaa Awda expressed joy, saying, “The resistance remains steadfast.” Another resident, Umm Nader Abu Shariq, added, “We don’t want to be displaced; this is our land.”
Avera Mengistu’s family welcomed his release after “ten years and five months of unimaginable suffering,” while Tal Shoham’s family expressed “immense relief” and extended their thoughts to the families of other hostages. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis watched the live broadcast of the releases on “Hostage Square,” oscillating between tears and bursts of joy.
The Exchange and Losses
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 602 Palestinian detainees will be released in exchange for the hostages on Saturday, including 108 who will be expelled from Palestinian territories. This seventh exchange began after confirmation of Shiri Bibas’s death, who was kidnapped along with her sons Ariel and Kfir on October 7, 2023.
On Saturday, Bibas’s family confirmed her death following the identification of her body, which Hamas handed over on Friday. The movement admitted to making an “error” by not returning her remains as scheduled the previous day, along with those of her two children. The Israeli army claimed that Ariel (4 years old) and Kfir (8.5 months old) were killed “by terrorists with their bare hands” in Gaza, while Hamas alleged that Shiri (32 at the time of her abduction) and her children were killed in an Israeli bombardment in November 2023. However, the Bibas family stated they had received “no details” from Israeli authorities about the circumstances of their deaths and requested that “no further details” be published, describing it as “a murder, nothing more.”
Statistics and Developments
With these latest releases, of the 251 hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023, 62 remain detained in Gaza, including 35 who are deceased, according to the Israeli army. Since January 19, 2025, Hamas has returned 29 Israeli hostages (including four deceased) to Israel in exchange for over 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.
According to Hamas, only four deceased hostages need to be returned to Israel before the end of the first phase of the agreement on March 1, 2025. This phase plans to release a total of 33 hostages (including eight deceased) in exchange for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has expressed readiness to release all remaining hostages at once during the second phase of the agreement, which is intended to permanently end the war. However, indirect negotiations for this second phase have been delayed due to tensions between the two sides.
Casualties and Humanitarian Crisis
The October 7, 2023, attack resulted in the deaths of 1,215 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data, including hostages who died or were killed in captivity. In response, Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 48,319 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the United Nations. The offensive has triggered a humanitarian disaster in the besieged territory.
