Hamas Saturday freed four Israeli female soldiers after 477 days of captivity in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Army said. The soldiers crossed into Israeli territory before reuniting with their families after their captivity ended thanks to the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel,

GAZA/JERUSALEM - The Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday released the second batch of Israeli hostages, four women who were received by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City.

In the first six-week phase of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, older men and the sick and injured, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, while Israeli troops pull back from some of their positions in the Gaza Strip.

Three female Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for 15 months have been released and brought back to Israel, after a long-awaited ceasefire deal took effect. Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari, who is also a British citizen, were due to be freed in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel would not allow Palestinians to begin returning to northern Gaza until Mr Yehoud, a civilian taken from a kibbutz in Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, was freed.

Hamas released three Israeli hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, on the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East.

A crowd in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square erupted in emotional cheers on January 25, 2025, as news broke of the release of four hostages from Gaza City. The square, filled with Israeli flags and photos of those taken during the October 7,