Three hostages handed over to Israeli military after Hamas release

Hamas released three more hostages in the Gaza Strip as part of the latest prisoner exchange with Israel, live television images showed on Saturday.

The hostages – named as Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami – were handed over to the Red Cross and taken away in Red Cross vans, after being paraded in front of the Palestinian crowd by Hamas fighters.

They were made to speak into a microphone on a stage in front of the Gazans gathered at the handover point.

The men have been handed over to the Israeli military. After an initial medical examination at a military facility, they were set to reunite with their families before being transferred to hospitals in central Israel.

In return, Israel is due to release 183 Palestinian prisoners later on Saturday. It is the fifth time a hostage-prisoner swap is taking place as part of a ceasefire deal.

During the first six-week phase of a ceasefire agreement to halt the war in Gaza, 33 Israeli hostages in total are due to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

So far, 16 Israeli hostages have been freed. Hamas also released five Thai nationals, who were not included in the agreement. Israel has released 583 Palestinian prisoners.

Under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in place since January 19, Hamas has to provide 24 hours’ notice of the names of the hostages to be released.

A total of 79 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli information, but 35 of them are presumed to be dead.

During the first six-week phase of the agreement, 33 Israeli hostages are due to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.