Israel Three hostages in the Gaza Strip handed over to the Red Cross

SDA

1.2.2025 - 10:05

dpatopbilder - Hamas fighters escort a Red Cross vehicle. Photo: Abdel Kareem/AP/dpa
dpatopbilder - Hamas fighters escort a Red Cross vehicle. Photo: Abdel Kareem/AP/dpa
Keystone

Hamas has handed over three more hostages to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip as part of a ceasefire agreement. Ofer Kalderon (54) and Jarden Bibas (35) were released in Chan Junis in the south of the territory and are already back in Israel. Keith Siegel (65) was handed over to the Red Cross at the port of the city of Gaza in the north of the coastal strip, as seen on live television footage.

Keystone-SDA

The Israeli army confirmed the handover, citing the International Committee of the Red Cross. Terrorists had abducted the three men to the Gaza Strip 484 days ago during the Hamas massacre in Israel.

They were released as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. In return, 183 Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli prisons, including several prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. 111 of them are from the Gaza Strip and were arrested after October 7.

In addition, according to Israeli media reports, the important Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza is to be reopened.

No large crowds at the releases

The two handovers were orderly and swift compared to the previous ones. No large crowds gathered at the site this time. Armed and masked Hamas fighters in uniform lined a road through which the vehicle carrying Siegel drove. TV footage showed a woman scattering rose petals and glittering confetti in the direction of the Hamas fighters.

Before each handover, Hamas and Red Cross representatives signed "release documents". Television footage showed Kalderon and Bibas stepping onto a stage one after the other and waving to those present. They stood in front of posters depicting Hamas leaders who had been killed.

The Mediterranean Sea could be seen behind the stage on which Keith Siegel was led two hours later at the port of the city of Gaza. A banner attached to the stage read in Hebrew: "Zionism will not win". The term refers to the aspiration to establish a Jewish state. In its charter, the terrorist organization Hamas calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and the forcible establishment of an Islamic state of Palestine from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

After his release, Siegel was initially to be taken to an Israeli military camp in southern Israel. According to Israeli sources, the other men are already back in Israel. All three were then to be taken to hospitals.

In the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, many people cheered as they watched live footage of the hostages being handed over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip.

The fate of the Bibas family moves the world

The kidnapping of the Bibas family and their two young boys, one of whom was a baby, caused worldwide horror. The children and their mother, who has both Israeli and German citizenship, are also due to be released in the first phase of the agreement. Now the father will be released before them - although women and children are supposed to have priority for release.

Hamas announced a long time ago that the woman and the two boys had been killed in Israeli bombings. Unlike in other cases, Israel did not confirm their deaths. However, there is great concern about the fate of the three, according to official sources.

79 hostages still in the Gaza Strip

The last hostage release on Thursday was accompanied by chaotic scenes. Footage showed a German-Israeli woman being led through a jostling and screaming crowd by masked and armed Islamists. Many Palestinians also tried to photograph the frightened-looking woman with their cell phones. Following these threatening scenes, Israel urged the states that brokered the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure that this does not happen again. According to Israeli sources, the mediating states promised that the hostages would be handed over safely in future.

Following the release of all three abductees, 79 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip, 35 of whom are dead according to Israeli reports. The next hostages are due to be released next weekend.

The ceasefire agreement came into force on January 19. It provides for 33 hostages to be released within six weeks in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners in a first phase - 15 hostages have already been released over the past two weekends and on Thursday. Hamas recently announced that eight of the 33 hostages were dead. It is unclear exactly who they are.

Terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 Israelis hostage in the Gaza Strip during their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack triggered the war in the sealed-off coastal area, where more than 47,400 people have been killed since then, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. The figure does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.