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The first 2 freed hostages, Avera Mengistu & Tal Shoham, were turned over to the Red Cross in Rafah. The Israeli military said the 2 men had crossed into #Israel & would receive medical assessments.

3 more were handed over in Nuseirat in central #Gaza & delivered to the Israeli military: Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert & Eliya Cohen. They were kidnapped while trying to flee a music festival near the border with Gaza.

The 2 handover ceremonies were still highly orchestrated, w/masked gunmen escorting hostages onto stages where they displayed release certificates.

A 6th hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, who appeared to be in poor health in a video that #Hamas released in 2022, was turned over in #Gaza City & was not televised. al-Sayed & Mengistu were both captured by Hamas about 10 yrs ago, the rest were taken in the #Oct7 2023 attack.

#Israel & #Hamas are nearing the end of the first phase of the 6-week truce, which is set to expire in early March. Under the deal, Hamas committed in the first stage to freeing at least 25 living Israeli hostages & the remains of 8 more in exchange for >1,500 #Palestinians jailed by Israel. The handover of all 25 living hostages will be complete with Saturday’s release of the 6 hostages.

#Palestinians in the #WestBank & #Gaza were eagerly awaiting the return of their loved ones. The detainees include 50 serving life sentences for involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. But there will also be >400 people taken prisoner in #Gaza, who were generally held without formal charges.

The final swap in the 6-week truce is set to take place next weekend, when #Hamas is expected to return at least 4 bodies to #Israel.

@Nonilex

So, hostages.

"But there will also be >400 people taken prisoner in #Gaza, who were generally held without formal charges."