Israel and Hamas Exchange 3 Hostages and More Than 180 Prisoners

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In highly staged ceremonies, Hamas freed three people held captive over the last 15 months. Keeping to its part of the cease-fire deal, Israel released 183 Palestinians held in jails.

Ofer Calderon, one of the Israeli hostages released on Saturday, stands on a stage in Khan Younis, Gaza, flanked by men in uniform holding rifles.
Israeli hostage Ofer Calderon is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Saturday, in the latest exchange in a tense cease-fire deal. Credit…Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

Aaron BoxermanAdam Rasgon

Hamas gunmen released three more hostages and Israel freed more than 180 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, quickly conducting the latest exchange in a tense cease-fire deal and avoiding the chaos that marked a drawn-out transfer earlier this week.

Hamas released two of the hostages, Yarden Bibas, 35, and Ofer Kalderon, 54, in a highly theatrical ceremony in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The group then released the third hostage, Keith Siegel, a 65-year-old American Israeli, in a separate ceremony in Gaza City. The three, escorted by Red Cross workers, then headed to hospitals in Israel, where they reunited with their families after 15 months in captivity.

In exchange, Israel said it had released 183 Palestinian prisoners. Buses carrying the freed Palestinians reached the city of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to video from the scene, where a crowd of people greeted them. The Red Cross also brought a group of freed prisoners to the European Hospital in Khan Younis, according to a doctor there and a Hamas-linked Palestinian prisoner information center.

Israelis watched live broadcasts of the hostages being released from what has become known as “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv, cheering as the three were handed over. Relatives expressed relief and joy, as well as sadness that their family members had spent so much time in captivity.

Image

People who gathered in what has become known as “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv cheered, as a live broadcast showed the American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel being handed over on Saturday.Credit…Amit Elkayam for The New York Times

“This moment came 484 days too late,” Ifat Kalderon, Mr. Kalderon’s cousin, said in an interview with Kan News, the Israeli public broadcaster. “But it has finally happened.”


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