Four of the five female Israeli soldiers abducted at the Nahal Oz military outpost on 7 October 2023 have been released by Hamas and returned to Israel. In exchange, 200 Palestinian prisoners were released from prison, of which 121 were super-terrorists, ‘with blood on their hands’, i.e. life sentences for having killed dozens of Israeli civilians in various attacks. The 29-year-old’s failure to return to freedom Arbel Yehud, civil and woman, which should have taken place today, however, led Israel to declare that Hamas violated the truce and consequently did not allow the return of displaced people to northern Gaza through the Netzarim corridor. «Today the world is celebrating. The president Donald Trump managed to obtain the release of four other Israeli hostages, held for too long by Hamas in appalling conditions”, commented the White House. “Strong concern” was instead expressed by the IDF spokesperson for the failure to release him Shiri Bibaswhich was supposed to happen today, edand her children, Kfir and Ariel, aged two and five. “When we saw they weren’t on the list, the world collapsed on us,” the family said.
The unprecedented show orchestrated by Hamas on the occasion of the liberation of Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Elbag it was broadcast live on TV and relaunched throughout the world by Arab TV channels. Surrounded by armed militiamen, the young women emerged from the terrorists’ SUVs shortly after ten o’clock, slowly paraded through Saraya Square in Gaza City and taken towards a stage where a table had been set up for the occasion. Holding hands, with the envelopes received as gifts from their captors – inside the souvenirs of Gaza, like last week for the other three freed kidnapped women – they had to smile big at the crowd, waving and making the victory sign. All around was a huge cordon of Hamas and Islamic jihad militiamen, all rigorously armed, with their faces covered, with the green Islamic sash on their heads. And immediately around them the crowd of Gazans shouting Allahu akbar. While Al Jazeera showed images of a drone dropping sweets on the square.
The oppressive scenes of crowds, crowds and chaos that accompanied the liberation of Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecherthis time there were none. The organization of the event – an unmistakable demonstration of how Hamas is still alive and well – was taken care of in detail in favor of the cameras: banners with slogans in Arabic and English were unfurled to be photographed by Arab reporters, «Palestine: the victory of the oppressed people against Nazi Zionism.” Then the Red Cross workers signed. The girls, newly dressed in army green uniforms, were given the okay to get off the stage and head towards the white jeeps. Images stigmatized by the IDF which defined them as “cynical and cruel”. Especially thinking back to the videos released by Hamas in which the four young women were shown bloodied, terrified, overwhelmed by the militiamen who shortly before had massacred dozens of young soldiers in the same Nahal Oz base.
Hamas in the meantime has published a video in which each of the abductees is given a ‘prisoner release form’, a framed certificate and a key ring with the Palestinian flag. The girls set foot back in Israel after 477 days in captivity. Waiting for them in the base on the border with Gaza, the emotional embrace of their parents. While the crowd gathered in hostage square in Tel Aviv burst into tears, applause and joy. Then, Liri, Naama Daniela and Karina were taken by helicopter to the hospital, where there were other relatives, and a crowd of people celebrating outside.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem, and in Gaza people took to the streets to applaud the released Palestinian prisoners. With long parades, flags, songs. In the Strip they were welcomed with chants: “We are the people of Muhammad Deif”, referring to the Hamas military leader killed in an Israeli air strike in July. According to US sources, the terrorist organization has managed to recruit between 10 and 15 thousand new members in recent months. Egyptian media reported that 70 lifers were transferred through the Rafah crossing before being exiled. The families of the soldiers killed in the Nahal Oz military outpost during the Hamas attack expressed joy at the liberation of the soldiers: “We are deeply saddened by the infinite homesickness of our daughters, but we prayed for the return of their friends” .