Two hostages, Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu, were helped onto the stage set up by Hamas in Rafah, with the militants assisting them in walking. The two were then taken to Red Cross vehicles and handed over to the Israeli armed forces.
Avera Mengistu had been held captive by Hamas for over a decade, making him the longest-held living Israeli hostage. The 28-year-old Israeli of Ethiopian descent had entered Gaza in 2014, crossing the border near Zikim Beach, just north of the Strip. Tal Shoham, on October 7th, was visiting Kibbutz Beeri with his wife Adi and their two children, three-year-old Yahel and eight-year-old Nave. Shoham, his wife, their children, and four other family members were taken to Gaza. Adi and the children were released in November 2023.
As part of the exchange with the Israeli hostages, one of the Hamas leaders in prison, Salama Katkawi, will be released today. The operation involves the release of 602 detainees in exchange for the return of six hostages. Among the Palestinian detainees to be released are other prominent figures, such as Abdel Nasir Issa, responsible for two suicide bombings; Othman Balal, sentenced to 27 life imprisonments for a series of terrorist attacks, and Omar Azban, linked to attacks that caused numerous civilian casualties. Also to be released are veteran detainees, including Naal al-Barguti, considered the longest-serving detainee, Alaa al-Bazziyan, and Samar al-Makhroom, convicted of a murder 40 years ago. Of the 602 detainees, 445 were arrested in Gaza during the war, 110 are considered particularly dangerous, and 47 had been released in previous agreements only to be re-arrested.
The Bibas family announced that experts from the Israeli Institute of Forensic Medicine had identified the body of Shiri, the mother of young Kfir and Ariel. “We received the news we feared the most: our Shiri was murdered in captivity,” the family wrote this morning on the Bring Bibas Back social media accounts. The woman “has now returned home to her children to rest,” the statement reads.
The kibbutz where Shiri was kidnapped in the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel confirmed the woman’s death. “With deep sorrow and grief, we announce the assassination of Shiri Bibas, killed during captivity in Gaza,” said Kibbutz Nir Oz in a statement.
Fighters from the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, were deployed this morning at the site where the Israeli prisoners will be handed over in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. This was reported by Arab and Palestinian media. Photos published by Quds News Network show rows of armed and masked militants guarding a stage decorated with propaganda banners. Another similar stage was set up in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Palestinian enclave, according to local media cited by the Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera.
On the stage prepared by Hamas in Rafah, there are the usual signs with messages like “We are the flood,” as well as weapons and military equipment that the group claims were stolen from the IDF on October 7, 2023. The strap of one of the rifles is marked with the word “Ravshatz,” the Hebrew acronym for the head of the local security team of a community, indicating that it was taken from such an individual killed by the terrorists during the October 7 attack. This was reported by the Times of Israel.
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