Six Israeli hostages, including two men held captive in Gaza for at least 10 years, have been released by Hamas after days of tensions threatened to scupper a fragile ceasefire with Israel.
In the morning, Avera Mengistu, who had been held by militants since he crossed into the besieged strip in 2014, was released first alongside Tal Shoham, 40, who also has Austrian citizenship and was seized from Kibbutz Be’eri during Hamas’s bloody assault on 7 October 2023.
The six Israeli hostages are the final living captives to be freed under phase one of the fragile ceasefire – Hamas said it will also release four more bodies next week.
Later in front of hundreds of Palestinians in the central town of Nuseirat, three Israeli men – Omer Wenkert, 23, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Eliya Cohen, 27, – were brought out by masked, armed Hamas fighters to pose on a stage dressed in fake army uniforms, though they were not soldiers when they were kidnapped.
The hostages are among the final living captives freed under phase one of a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire while more than 600 Palestinians are due to be released from Israeli prisons.
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