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• Hamas has released two of three Israeli hostages expected to be freed on Saturday, in the fourth round of releases since a Gaza ceasefire and hostage agreement was reached last month.
• The trio includes an American dual national and the father of the youngest hostages taken from Israel on October 7, 2023.
• Hamas has said it expects Israel to release 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday. Eighteen of the prisoners are serving life sentences, while 111 were arrested in Gaza after October 7, according to the Hamas Prisoners Media Office.
• The crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is also expected to open on Saturday. However, Israel has warned that will not go ahead if there is a repeat of the chaos that surrounded the release of seven hostages on Thursday.
• A dramatic uptick in humanitarian relief should now be entering Gaza, where living conditions for most people remain dire. The deal stipulated the number of aid trucks entering the enclave will increase to 600 per day.
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The families of Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon have been informed that the two men are in Israel, the Prime Minister’s Office said Saturday.
“The Government of Israel embraces the two returnees. Their families have been informed by the relevant authorities that they have joined our forces,” the office said in a statement.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it understood that both men were in good condition.
The Israeli military said the two men have now arrived at an initial reception point in southern Israel.
IDF medical officials are accompanying them, and they will undergo an initial medical assessment at the reception point, the Re’im military base.
IDF representatives are also accompanying the families waiting at the hospital, where the men will be taken next.
Crowds gathered in Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square” waved Israeli flags and held up posters of the remaining hostages, while a large screen showed images of them.
The handover of the two Israeli hostages in Khan Younis on Saturday was accompanied by an extensive presence of armed and masked Hamas fighters, many riding pick-up trucks.
As preparations continued in Gaza City for the release of the dual American-Israeli Keith Siegel, there was a similarly large gathering of Hamas fighters. There was a much-reduced civilian presence.
Two of the hostages set to be released on Saturday, Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas, were handed over by Hamas to the representatives of the Red Cross on Saturday morning in Khan Younis.
After a brief handover with no ceremony, a Red Cross convoy carrying Kalderon and Bibas left Khan Younis shortly before 9 a.m. local time.
The Israeli military confirmed that “according to information communicated by the Red Cross, two hostages were transferred to them and are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip.”
The quick and orderly transfer of the hostages was in marked contrast to the chaotic scenes in Khan Younis on Thursday, when the handover of seven hostages took more than an hour amid large, uncontrolled crowds.
Those scenes led to anger in Israel and a delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressed the mediators to ensure such scenes were not repeated.
Hamas fighters and Red Cross vehicles can be seen on the coast in Gaza’s Khan Younis ahead of a planned handover of hostages.
Hamas announced that three Israeli hostages will be released on Saturday, in what will be the fourth round of such releases since a hostage-ceasefire agreement was reached last month.
Almost two weeks on from the deal coming into effect, here’s a reminder of what to expect from phase one:
• Hamas is expected to release another 23 hostages over the course of the 42-day truce, including the three set for freedom on Saturday. Eight of them have died in captivity, the Israeli government has confirmed.
• In exchange, Israel is releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, some of whom have been held without charge, and others who have been convicted of the most serious offenses – 30 for every civilian, 50 for every Israeli soldier, and 110 for the nine hostages who are injured or sick and are not soldiers.
• Medical evacuations from Gaza via Egypt will begin on Saturday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as the crucial Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt opens for the first time in eight months. Approximately 50 patients will cross the border, a World Health Organization official said on Friday.
• Displaced Palestinians have been returning home to devastated northern Gaza. The Gaza Government Office said Wednesday that some 500,000 displaced Palestinians — almost a quarter of the enclave’s population — had made the journey to the decimated north in the first 72 hours after Israeli forces opened the Netzarim corridor, which separates it from the south.
• A dramatic uptick in humanitarian relief should now be entering Gaza. The deal stipulated the number of aid trucks entering the enclave will increase to 600 per day.
Hamas has said it expects Israel to release 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday as part of the ceasefire and hostage deal.
The Hamas Prisoners Media Office on Friday released a list of the names of those it expects to be released.
Eighteen of the prisoners are serving life sentences, while 111 were arrested in the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023, the office said in a statement. The charges against the 111 were not clear.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner Society confirmed that a total of 183 prisoners would be released Saturday.
Israel is preparing to receive three male hostages held in Gaza on Saturday, in the latest release of captives under the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.
The militant group named the three men on Friday that it intends to release: Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon.
Here’s what we know about them.
Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American citizen, was taken from his home in kibbutz Kfar Aza. His wife Aviva, who was kidnapped alongside him, was released in November 2023 as part of the short-lived ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Aviva Siegel said that while they were held captive together, Keith would ask everyone to identify one thing they were thankful for. “Imagine being in the depths of hell and still trying to find one thing each day that you are thankful for,” she said, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Yarden Bibas was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz alongside his wife Shiri and two sons Kfir and Ariel. Kfir was just nine months when he was abducted, the youngest hostage taken on October 7.
Hamas claimed in November 2023 that Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israel never confirmed their deaths, but the military has told relatives that they may not be alive, according to a spokesperson for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The Bibas family, and Kfir in particular, are among the most recognizable victims of the October 7 terror attacks.
Kfir’s picture has been featured on many of the posters calling for the release of the hostages that have been on display across Israel and the world for the past 15 months. In it, the red-haired baby boy is holding a pink elephant toy, looking directly into the camera with a toothless smile.
Ofer Kalderon, a French-Israeli citizen, was 52 when he was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz together with his son Erez, who was 11 at the time, and his daughter Sahar, who was 16. Erez and Sahar were also released during the November 2023 ceasefire.
Kalderon has been described by his family as a keen cyclist and expert carpenter, and a man who enjoys music and field trips with his children.
Israel says it will not open Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Saturday as expected if there is a repeat of the chaos that surrounded the release of seven hostages on Thursday.
The Rafah crossing was expected to open on Saturday to allow sick and wounded militants and civilians to leave Gaza, as part of the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
However, an Israeli official told CNN on Friday that was conditional on there not being a repeat of the scenes Thursday, when seven hostages were forced to walk through jeering Palestinian crowds during their release in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
“Israel sent a message (to the mediators) that if the images of Khan Younis will repeat themselves, the Rafah crossing will not open,” the official said.
Hamas is expected to release three Israeli hostages on Saturday. If everything goes smoothly during the handover, the crossing will open, the official said.
Under the ceasefire agreement, up to 50 injured Palestinian militants in need of medical care will be allowed to cross into Egypt through Rafah per day. In addition to that, civilian Palestinian women and children who need medical care will also be allowed to cross to Egypt.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has welcomed the opening of the border.
“This will be the first medical evacuation since the ceasefire began, and the first time through Rafah since its closure in May 2024,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday.
According to Ghebreyesus, between 12,000 and 14,000 people require “urgent specialized medical care outside Gaza.”
Some context: The Rafah border crossing had been overseen since 2007 by Hamas, which took full control of Gaza after winning elections a year earlier. In May 2024, Israeli forces took over the border following their military operations against Hamas in Gaza.
Hamas announced on Friday that among the three Israeli hostages to be released from Gaza on Saturday are an American dual national and the father of the youngest hostages taken from Israel on October 7, 2023.
The militant group named three men – Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon as the captives that would be freed in the latest round. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said their families had been informed.
Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American citizen, was taken from his home in kibbutz Kfar Aza.
Ofer Kalderon was 52 when he was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz.
Yarden Bibas was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz alongside his wife Shiri and two sons Kfir and Ariel. His son Kfir was the youngest hostage taken on October 7, at just nine months.
Hamas claimed in November 2023 that Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas were killed in an Israeli airstrike, and released a hostage video of Yarden Bibas in which he blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their deaths. An Israeli military spokesperson at the time called the video “psychological terror,” and Israel never confirmed their deaths, but the military has told relatives that they may not be alive, according to a spokesperson for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.