Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy – all taken hostage during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel – were handed to the Red Cross in the central city of Deir al-Balah on day 491 of their captivity in Gaza. While the transfer was orderly - in contrast to chaotic scenes surrounding the release of Israeli and Thai hostages in Gaza last week - the three appeared thin and pale when they were led onto a makeshift stage.
Many of the Palestinian prisoners that have been freed by Israel in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement have also appeared emaciated and in poor health upon their release.
Both Ami and Sharabi were dressed in brown. The hostages delivered speeches in Hebrew while they stood on the stage, before they were led to three Red Cross vehicles waiting to take them back to Israel.
The Red Cross then passed the hostages to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, who have transferred them back to Israel, where they will undergo a medical assessment.
The images during Saturday’s handover have drawn condemnation from Israel. Levy – who was released as he was considered a humanitarian case – appeared particularly frail.
The Israeli government described the scenes as “shocking” and said they “would not go unaddressed,” while Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the freed hostages’ appearances were “disturbing.”
A veteran Israeli negotiator turned peace activist said Saturday that the gaunt condition of three Israelis would remind many Israelis of Nazi concentration camp survivors.
“Seeing the three hostages this morning as if they had been liberated from World War II concentration camps should compel us all to accelerate the release of all hostages,” Gershon Baskin said in a statement.
The mother of Matan Zangauker, a 25-year-old still held in Gaza derided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for extending his trip to Washington and not doing more to free her son.
“The three who returned today are Holocaust survivors,” Einav Zangauker, mother of Matan Zangauker, said in an impassioned video. “My Matan is going through a Holocaust!”
Friends and family of Israeli hostage Ohad Ben Ami wait for news of his release, in Tel Aviv, on Saturday.
Ben Ami, 56, and Sharabi, 52, were both taken from their homes in Kibbutz Be’eri, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Gaza border.
Ben Ami’s wife, Raz Ben Ami, also taken captive that day, was freed during a short-lived truce in November 2023.
Levy, 34, was attending the Nova music festival on October 7 when he was kidnapped. His wife Eynav was killed in the attack. Levy also has a three-year-old son who he’ll be reunited with on his return to Israel.
Hamas has now released a total of 16 Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, of a total of 33 promised at staggered intervals during this stage. Eight of those 33 are dead, according to the Israeli government.
Following the release of the three hostages on Saturday, Hamas and its allies still hold a total of 73 people taken from Israel on October 7, 2023, of 251 initially taken. Three additional hostages, held captive since 2014, are still in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel is releasing 183 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. A bus carrying Palestinians due for release has departed Israel’s Ofer Prison, in the occupied West Bank, according to videos from the scene.
Eighteen of the Palestinian prisoners expected to be released Saturday are serving life sentences, while 54 have lesser sentences and 111 were detained in Gaza after October 7, Hamas said in a statement. The charges against the 111 were not clear.Three more Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas in Gaza in return for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners
Eli Sharabi, Ohad ben Ami and Or Levy are now back in Israel - the three men looked thin and gaunt
A bus carrying Palestinian prisoners has arrived in Ramallah, with 183 detainees set to be released from Israeli jails today
The process today is part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that started on 19 January.
Pete Brisley, the father-in-law of Eli Sharabi, was watching nervously in Wales with his wife Gill as Eli was released.
Their daughter Lianne and grandchildren Noiya and Yahel were murdered on 7 October in their home.
Pete said, “It’s just very, very emotional here.”
“It’s great to see him released, but I wasn’t expecting to see him looking like that, so very, very thin and emaciated. He looks like he’s just come out of a concentration camp… We still don’t know whether he knows that he’s lost his family, his wife and daughters, because nobody knows whether he saw them murdered or whether he was taken outside before.
"We’ll find out sometime in the next couple of hours, because his mum and his sister are waiting at the hospital to greet him. I would think his first question will be, where are they? If he did see them murdered, then he’s had to live with that for the last 15 months, 16 months.”
We're seeing now that a bus carrying Palestinian prisoners has now left Ofer prison.
As a reminder, 183 prisoners are due to be released today in exchange for the three Israeli hostages. So far, 383 prisoners have been released, with 1,900 expected in total.
The prisoners released today will be brought to the West Bank and Gaza.Along with the three Israeli hostages freed today, 183 Palestinian prisoners are also expected to be released from Israeli jail.
Earlier, we've seen images showing Israeli forces gathering outside the Israeli military prison, Ofer.
Israel is expected to release the Palestinian prisoners today as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which came into force last month.
