Israeli hostages Naama Levy and Karina Ariev were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by Hamas militants today. Together with two other hostages, they were captured during an attack in October 2023.

GAZA/JERUSALEM - The Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement on Saturday released the second batch of Israeli hostages, four women who were received by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City.

Three female Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for 15 months have been released and brought back to Israel, after a long-awaited ceasefire deal took effect. Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari, who is also a British citizen, were due to be freed in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

In the first six-week phase of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, older men and the sick and injured, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, while Israeli troops pull back from some of their positions in the Gaza Strip.

An agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas that involves the release of additional hostages and the return of Palestinians to the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Israel said Palestinians could begin returning to the north of the war-battered Gaza Strip on Monday after a deal was reached with Hamas for the release of another six hostages, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.

Palestinian militants and Israel carried out a hostage-prisoner swap on Saturday under a Gaza ceasefire deal, but a last-minute dispute blocked the expected return of hundreds of thousands of Palestin

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that residents of the Gaza Strip would not be allowed to travel back to the north of the territory until an Israeli civilian hostage is released.

The deal, which has been held back after several delays, now passes to the country's full cabinet for signoff. View on euronews