Ofer Kalderon embraces his partner, Ramat Gan, Israel, February 1, 2025. Photo: Maayan Toaf/GPO/Handout via REUTERS

Palestinian terrorist group Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages on Saturday, 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.

Ofer Kalderon, a French-Israeli dual national, and 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 separately handed over at the Gaza City seaport.

Hours later, 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released in the exchange. Among them, 150 arrived in Gaza while 32 got off a bus in Ramallah in the West Bank, where they were greeted by large crowds. One freed prisoner will be exiled to Egypt, according to the Hamas prisoners’ media office.

“I feel joy despite the journey of pain and hardship that we lived,” said Ali Al-Barghouti, who was serving two life sentences in an Israeli jail.

“The life sentence was broken and the occupation will one day be broken,” added Barghouti, as the crowd around him in Ramallah chanted “Allah Akbar (God is the most great).”

At the newly reopened Rafah crossing on the southern border, children suffering from cancer and heart conditions were among the first Palestinian patients to be allowed to leave Gaza for medical treatment in Egypt.

Mohammad Zaqout, a senior official in Gaza’s health ministry, however, criticized the limited number of patients allowed to travel for treatment, saying that around 18,000 people needed better healthcare.

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

Kalderon, whose two children Erez and Sahar were released in the first hostage exchange in November 2023, and 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.

Saturday’s handover saw none of the chaotic scenes that overshadowed an earlier transfer on Thursday, 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.

NEGOTIATIONS ON RELEASE OF REMAINING HOSTAGES

The total number of hostages freed so far is 18, including five Thais who were part of an unscheduled release on Thursday.

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

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

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Tuesday with the ceasefire in Gaza, and a possible normalization 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 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 worked out.

Negotiations are due to start by Tuesday 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 truce, agreed with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the United States, has mostly remained intact despite incidents that have led both sides to accuse the other of violating the deal.

Netanyahu’s government, which has 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. Gaza is in ruins and a deep legacy of bitterness and mistrust remains.

Israeli leaders continue to insist that Hamas cannot remain in Gaza, but the terror group 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.

The post Israeli Hostages, Palestinian Prisoners Released in Latest Gaza Exchange first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Trucks carrying aid line up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt, February 1, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

The European Union has restarted its civilian mission to monitor the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt at Rafah, a key entry and exit point for the Palestinian territory, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday.

The health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza said the first Palestinians – injured civilians and militant fighters – would enter Egypt on Saturday via the Rafah crossing, which has been shut to human traffic since last May.

People will only be allowed to travel in one direction, from Gaza to Egypt, for the time being, officials said.

Kallas announced on Monday there was broad agreement among member states that the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) could play a “decisive role” in supporting the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

“The EU’s civilian border mission deploys today (Friday) to the Rafah Crossing at the request of the Palestinians and the Israelis. It will support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza, including those who need medical care,” she posted on X.

Egyptian security sources confirmed that members of the EU team had arrived at the facility.

The crossing will now be run by members of the Palestinian Authority and European monitors, PA and Hamas officials said.

It will be opened initially for 50 injured militants and 50 wounded civilians, along with the people escorting them, the officials said, adding that a further 100 people, most likely students, would be allowed through on humanitarian grounds.

Gaza’s health ministry said the transportation of patients from two hospitals in the north and south of the enclave would be coordinated with the World Health Organization.

A civilian EU mission to help monitor the Rafah crossing began work there in 2005 but was suspended in June 2007 after Hamas, a militant Islamist group, took over the Gaza Strip.

In standby mode thereafter, the mission had maintained 10 international and eight local staff.

Spain, Italy and France are now contributing personnel to the renewed mission.

The Spanish contingent comprises eight security specialists and two agents assigned to the border management team, joining two Spanish members of the mission already deployed there, the foreign and interior ministries in Madrid said.

France said it had deployed three gendarmes specialized in border policing on Friday as part of the EU mission, while Italy said it had sent seven paramilitary Carabinieri officers to join two Italians already at the Rafah mission.

German ministries are also discussing sending a contingent.

The post EU Restarts Rafah Border Crossing Mission, Says Foreign Policy Chief Kallas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Released Israeli hostage Yarden Bibas, who was seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, embraces loved ones in an unknown location, in this screengrab from a handout video obtained by Reuters on February 1, 2025. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

The family of Israeli hostage Yarden Bibas expressed relief on Saturday after he was released along with two other hostages by Hamas but said that the family’s home remained incomplete.

Yarden, his wife, Shiri and children Ariel, now aged 5, and Kfir, now 2, were seized from their home near Gaza, among the roughly 250 people abducted by Palestinian terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack and taken into the coastal enclave.

Shiri and the children were not among those released.

Baby Kfir was only nine-months-old when he was kidnapped. Footage of the 2023 assault showed a terrified Shiri, holding her two children tightly, being taken away by militants.

“A quarter of our heart has returned to us after 15 long months. There are no words to describe the relief of holding Yarden in our hands, embracing him, and hearing his voice,” the Bibas family said in statement.

“Yarden has returned home, but the home remains incomplete.”

Footage released by the Israeli army showed Yarden at a military facility on Saturday reuniting with his father and sister and embracing them both.

Israeli-American Keith Siegel and Israeli-French Ofer Calderon were also released. Israel also freed 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees who had been held in Israeli jails.

Hamas said in late 2023 that Shiri and the children had been killed by Israeli bombardments on Gaza, part of the massive military response to the October 2023 attack.

Hamas is releasing hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and detention as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Since Jan. 13, Israeli hostages, including dual nationals, and five Thais have been freed. Another 20 Israeli hostages are to be released in the initial stage of the truce. Hamas has said eight of those are dead.

More than 100 hostages were freed in a week-long 2023 truce.

Towards the end of that truce Hamas put out a brief video purportedly showing Yarden Bibas being told that his wife and children had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Israeli officials have expressed concern over the fate of Shiri and the children but has not said they had been killed.

“We continue with hope and the call for the return of Shiri, the children, and all the hostages. Please continue to make their voices heard and emphasize the urgency of their return,” the family said on Saturday.

The post Israeli Hostage’s Release Brings Some Relief for Family but Fate of Wife, Children Unknown first appeared on Algemeiner.com.