Crowds gathered in Tel Aviv and Gaza City on Saturday ahead of the expected swap between Israel and Hamas of more hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the second such exchange since a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip last weekend and another test for the deal.
The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the militant group. The fragile deal has so far held, quieting airstrikes and rockets and allowing for increased aid to flow into the tiny coastal territory.
The four hostages being released on Saturday: Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levy and Daniella Gilboa.Credit: AP
In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, a big screen showed the faces of the four female soldiers expected to be released. Some in the growing crowd wore Israeli flags, others held posters with the hostages’ faces.
“I’m extremely excited, exhilarated,” said onlooker Gili Roman. “In a heartbeat, in a split of a second, their lives are going to turn upside again, but right now for a positive and a good side.”
He said his sister was released in the only other ceasefire in November, but another relative was killed in captivity.
In Tel Aviv, people wait for news of the release of the four soldiers. Credit: Getty Images
When the ceasefire started Sunday, three hostages held by the militants were released in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children. On Saturday, four hostages are expected to be freed for 200 prisoners, including 120 who are serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks on Israelis. They will likely be released into Gaza or sent abroad.
The four female soldiers were taken from Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when Palestinian militants overran it, killing more than 60 soldiers there. The female abductees had all served in a unit of lookouts charged with monitoring threats along the border. A fifth female soldier in their unit, Agam Berger, 20, was abducted with them but not included in the list.
Israel’s military issued a statement Saturday morning saying that preparations had been completed to receive the hostages and provide them medical care and personal support at the initial reception points, then transfer them to hospitals and reunite them with their families.
In Gaza City’s central Palestine Square, a crowd began to gather early as militants worked to cordon off an area where the hostages were expected to be handed over to the Red Cross.
Dozens of armed and masked militants also paraded in vehicles through the streets of the city, said resident Radwan Abu Rawiya who was part of the Palestine Square crowd.
Hamas fighters are deployed in central Gaza City ahead of the planned release of four Israeli soldiers. Credit: AP
Children ran alongside the militants’ vehicles as celebratory gunfire rang out, he said in a telephone interview.
“People are celebrating and waiting to see the hostages,” he said.
After the swap, Israel is expected to begin pulling back from the Netzarim corridor — an east-west road dividing Gaza in two — and allowing displaced Palestinians in the south to return to their former homes in the north for the first time since the beginning of the war.
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Palestinians will only be allowed to move north on foot, with vehicular traffic restricted until later in the ceasefire.
The Hamas-run interior ministry said displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to northern Gaza starting Sunday.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry, which oversees police forces, said Palestinians will be able to move between southern and northern Gaza on foot through the coastal Rashid road.
What happens after the deal’s initial six-week phase is uncertain, but many hope it will lead to the end of a war that has levelled wide swaths of Gaza, displaced the vast majority of its population and left hundreds of thousands of people at risk of famine.
AP
