Hamas frees all 6 hostages in latest exchange with Israel
Tel Aviv, Feb 22 (AP): Hamas freed all six hostages in the latest exchange Saturday, even as heightened tension between the adversaries clouded the future of the fragile ceasefire deal.
The six included three Israeli men seized from the Nova music festival and another abducted while visiting his family in southern Israel when Hamas stormed across the border in the October 7, 2023, attacks that triggered Israel's nearly 16-month campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Two of the hostages had been held by Hamas for around a decade since they each entered Gaza on their own.
Five of the captives were handed over in staged ceremonies that the Red Cross and Israel have condemned in the past — brought out by masked, armed Hamas fighters in front of hundreds of Palestinians before being transferred to Red Cross vehicles.
In the central town of Nuseirat, Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen were posed alongside Hamas fighters on the stage. A beaming Shem Tov even kissed two Hamas members next to him on the head and blew kisses to the crowd.
Hamas has come under heavy criticism for such public displays, with Israel, the UN and the Red Cross saying they are cruel and do not respect the dignity of the hostages.
Watching the release, Cohen's family and friends in Israel chanted “Eliya! Eliya! Eliya!” and cheered when they saw him for the first time. Shem Tov's grandmother ululated in joy, shrieking, “Omer, my joy! My life!” as she saw him.
The Israeli military said the final hostage, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, was released later Saturday. The Bedouin Israeli crossed on his own into Gaza in 2015 and had been held since. His family has told Israeli media Al-Sayed was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The latest releases, to be followed by the freeing of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, went ahead after tensions mounted over a grisly and heart-wrenching dispute triggered this week when Hamas initially handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two young boys abducted by the Hamas group members.
The remains that Hamas transferred with her sons' bodies on Thursday were later determined to be those of an unidentified Palestinian woman. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for “a cruel and malicious violation,” while Hamas suggested it had been a mistake.
On Friday night, the small group believed to have been holding Bibas and her sons — the Palestinian Mujahedeen Brigades — handed over a second body. Bibas' family said Israeli forensic authorities had confirmed the remains were hers.
“For 16 months we sought certainty, and now that it's here, it brings no comfort, though we hope it marks the beginning of closure,” the family said.
Difficult negotiations likely over the ceasefire's next phase
The ceasefire deal has paused the war but is nearing the end of its first phase. Negotiations over a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens more hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal, are likely to be even more difficult.
The six hostages being freed Saturday are the last living ones to be released under the first phase.
Cohen, Shem Tov and Wenkert, all in their 20s, were abducted by Hamas fighters at the Nova music festival. During their release, they were brought out wearing fake army uniforms, though they were not soldiers when they were kidnapped.
Earlier Saturday, two other hostages — Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38 — were freed in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Arriving back in Israel, both were taken to medical centres for examination.
“This is an unforgettable moment, where all emotions are rapidly mixing together. Our Tal is with us,” Shoham's family said in a statement, calling for a deal to free all those still captive. “There is a window of opportunity; we must not miss it.”
Shoham, who also holds Austrian citizenship, was visiting his family in Kibbutz Be'eri when Hamas members stormed into the community during the October 7, 2023 attacks. Shoham's wife, two young children, and three other relatives who were abducted with him were freed in a November 2023 exchange.
Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, had been held in Gaza since entering on his own in 2014. Watching the handover on Israeli media, Mengistu's family and friends broke out into a Hebrew song, “Here is the Light,” as they saw him for the first time in more than a decade. “Do you remember me?” one of his brothers asks as they embraced at the hospital.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners set for release
Later Saturday, Israel is to release 620 imprisoned Palestinians.
They include 151 who were serving life or other sentences, around 100 of whom will be deported to other countries, according to the Palestinian prisoners media office. They also include 445 men as well as 18 children between the ages of 15 and 17, five aged between 18-19, and a woman, all of whom were seized by Israeli troops in Gaza during the current war, according to the media office.
Hamas has said it will also release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire. If that plan is carried out, Hamas would retain about 60 hostages, about half of whom are believed to be alive.
Hamas has said it won't release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu, with the full backing of the Trump administration, says he's committed to destroying Hamas' military and governing capacities and returning all the hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive.
Israel's military offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza, reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble. At its height, the war displaced 90 per cent of Gaza's population. Many have returned to their homes to find nothing left and no way of rebuilding.
⚡️#BREAKING Israeli “hostage” kisses the forehead of 2 Hamas members pic.twitter.com/Icg6TDEyEQ
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) February 22, 2025
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EAM Jaishankar meets Jamaican PM, gifts over 10 BHISHM Cubes
Kingston (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and discussed ways to further deepen "political, economic and people-to-people cooperation."
Jaishankar also conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Holness.
"Pleased to call on Prime Minister @AndrewHolnessJM in Kingston. Conveyed the greetings of PM @narendramodi," Jaishankar posted on X.
"Discussed deepening our political, economic and people-to-people cooperation. Value his commitment towards further strengthening India-Jamaica relations," the post further read.
Also, the external affairs minister handed over 10 BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri) Cubes as a gift to Jamaica.
"Formally handed over 10 BHISHM Cubes as a gift from India to Jamaica, in the presence of PM @AndrewHolnessJM, Health Minister @christufton and FM @kaminajsmith," Jaishankar posted on X.
"The BHISHM Cube mobile hospital system, designed for rapid deployment, will help Jamaica during disasters and emergencies. The gift of these cubes is a statement of friendship, a commitment to disaster preparedness, and an outcome of innovation," the post said.
Jaishankar arrived in Kingston on Saturday evening, marking the first leg of his nine-day tour of Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, aimed at further strengthening India's strategic and cultural ties with the Caribbean nations.
Earlier in the day, he interacted with the Indian diaspora and discussed India's ongoing transformation in infrastructure, human development and technology-driven governance and entrepreneurship with them.
He also highlighted the cricket bond between both countries as India gifted a scoreboard to Jamaica.
A scoreboard was dedicated at Sabina Park in Kingston. It is the home of the Jamaica cricket team and is the only Test cricket ground in the Caribbean island nation.
The minister expressed hope that the new scoreboard would witness many memorable innings, including those symbolising the enduring friendship between the two countries.
Cricket has long been a strong cultural bridge between India and Jamaica, which is part of the West Indies cricket team.
Jamaican players, including Chris Gayle, Courtney Walsh and Michael Holding, have played a major role in shaping the legacy of West Indies cricket in the international arena, contributing to its dominance in earlier decades and its continued global appeal.
