Hamas releases more hostages in exchange for more than 600 Palestinian prisoners as part of ceasefire deal
Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39 were the first to be released on Saturday, followed by Omer Wenkert, 23; Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Eliya Cohen, 27
By Landon Mion , Bradford Betz , Yonat Friling , Rachel Wolf Fox News
Published February 22, 2025 3:01am EST | Updated February 22, 2025 8:35am EST
Hamas freed six hostages on Saturday in exchange for more than 600 Palestinian prisoners as part of the fragile ceasefire agreement with Israel.
The first two men released were identified as Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39. Video footage showed the two men looking frail and scared as they were taken to a stage in front of a crowd while flanked by masked gunmen. They were handed over to the Red Cross and were on their way to the IDF.
An additional three hostages – Omer Wenkert, 23; Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Eliya Cohen, 27 – were subsequently released in the central town of Nuseirat. They were dressed in fake army uniforms, though they were not soldiers when they were kidnapped.
The three were put in Red Cross vehicles that then headed for Israel.
President Donald Trump seemed to welcome the news, writing on Truth Social, "SIXTH HOSTAGE HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED BY HAMAS!"
Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, an Israeli Bedouin who was kidnapped by Hamas in April 2015, was officially handed off to the Red Cross on Saturday after nearly 10 years in Gaza.
The Israeli Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency said in a joint statement that another hostage, in addition to the six who were released today, was transferred to the Red Cross, but did not provide details.
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