• Source:JND
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Gaza Ceasefire: Hamas militants on Saturday released four female Israeli soldiers who had been taken captive and handed them over to the Red Cross in Gaza City after parading them in front of a crowd. The development is part of a six-week ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, focusing on a prisoner exchange. As part of the agreement, Israel is set to release 200 Palestinian detainees later today as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The exchange marks the second swap since the ceasefire began last weekend, marking another test for the truce meant to ease tensions in the ongoing  conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The four Israeli soldier hostages, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, who were released today, had been captured by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack.

The female soldiers were taken from Nahal Oz base, located near the Gaza border, when Palestinian militants overran the facility, resulting in the deaths of over 60 soldiers, as reported by news agency AP. 

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These women were part of a lookout unit tasked with monitoring border threats. A fifth soldier from their unit, 20-year-old Agam Berger, was also abducted but was not included in the list of captives.

Israel has agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners for each female soldier freed in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire. This means that 200 Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for the four female soldiers. 

The ceasefire, which came after months of negotiations mediated by Qatar, and Egypt, and supported by the United States, halted the deadliest conflict in the Middle East since a brief truce in November 2023.

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During the initial phase, Hamas committed to freeing 33 hostages in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. In the following phase, further negotiations will take place to address the remaining hostages and discuss the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. 

Israel launched its military campaign following the surprise attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Tel Aviv on October 7, 2023, in which militants killed over 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages to Gaza, as claimed by Israel. 

Since then, over 47,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza, according to local health authorities. The release of the first three hostages last week evoked a strong emotional reaction from Israelis.

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