‘My joy! My life!’: Hamas frees 5 of 6 Israeli hostages under fragile ceasefire, families rejoice

Hamas freed five of six Israeli hostages due to be released on Saturday in the latest exchange under the fragile ceasefire.

The Palestinian militant group first released two hostages — Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38. Three more Israeli men in their 20s — Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen — were freed later.

These three were abducted by Hamas fighters at the Nova music festival when militants stormed into southern Gaza on October 7, 2023 in the attack that triggered the nearly 16-month Israeli campaign in Gaza. They were handed over to the Red Cross to be transported to Israeli forces.

Tal Shoham, 40 and Avera Mengistu, 39, were released in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier.

A sixth hostage, 36-year-old Hesham al-Sayed, is also due to be released Saturday, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

According to Reuters, Al-Sayed and Mengistu were held by Hamas since they entered Gaza of their own accord around a decade ago. Shoham was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri along with his wife and two children, who were freed in a brief truce in November 2023.

The six are the last living hostages from a group of 33 due to be freed in the first stage of the ceasefire deal that took effect on January 19. Around 60 more captives, less than half of whom are believed to be alive, remain in Gaza.

Hostages ‘dressed in fake army uniforms’

Three Israeli men — Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen — were brought out by masked, armed Hamas fighters to pose on a stage before hundreds of Palestinians in the central town of Nuseirat, the Associated Press reported.

They were dressed in fake army uniforms, though they were not soldiers when they were kidnapped. Shem Tov and Wenkert smiled and waved at the crowd.

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.

Fragile truce

Hamas released these hostages after Israel confirmed that a body handed over hours earlier was that of hostage Shiri Bibas, Reuters reported.

The fragile truce in the war between Israel and Hamas militants had been threatened with derailment by the misidentification of a body released on Thursday as that of Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped with her two young sons and her husband in the Hamas 2023 attack.

Hamas had initially handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two young boys abducted by militants.

However, late on Friday, Hamas handed over another body, which her family said had been confirmed to be hers.

“Last night, our Shiri was returned home,” her family said in a statement, which said she had been identified by Israel’s Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners set for release

The ceasefire has brought a pause in the fighting, but prospects of a definitive end to the war remain unclear. Hamas has been at pains to demonstrate that it remains in control in Gaza despite heavy losses in the war.

More than 600 Palestinians jailed in Israel will be freed in exchange, the Palestinian prisoners media office said Friday.

The prisoners set for release include 50 serving life sentences, 60 with long sentences, 47 who were released under a previous hostage-for-prisoner exchange and 445 Palestinians who were seized by Israeli troops in Gaza since the war began.

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.

(With inputs from agencies)