Sawt Falasteen - Hamas frees two Israeli hostages as next ceasefire swap begins

Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas were paraded on a stage before being released to the Red Cross in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, AFP journalists reported, while Keith Siegel is set to be freed in a similar ceremony at Gaza City's port in the north.

Israel's military later confirmed that Bibas and Kalderon were back on Israeli territory.

After holding them hostage for more than 15 months, militants in Gaza began releasing captives on January 19, as the first phase of a ceasefire with Israel took effect.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants have so far handed over 18 hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many of them women and minors.

Later Saturday, Israel will free 183 prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group said.

"The updated number of prisoners to be released tomorrow is 183," the Club's spokeswoman Amani Sarahneh said Friday, after previously announcing that 90 prisoners would be freed.

During their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which started the Gaza war, militants abducted American-Israeli Siegel from the Kfar Aza kibbutz community, and Bibas and French-Israeli Kalderon from kibbutz Nir Oz.

Militants took a total of 251 people hostage that day. Of those, 76 remain in Gaza, including at least 34 the military says are dead.

Those seized include Bibas's wife and two children, whom Hamas has declared dead, although Israeli officials have not confirmed that.

The two Bibas boys -- Kfir, the youngest hostage whose second birthday was earlier this month, and his older brother Ariel whose fifth birthday was in August -- have become symbols of the hostages' ordeal.

The children were taken along with their mother, Shiri. Hamas says an Israeli air strike in November 2023 killed all three.

"Our Yarden is supposed to return tomorrow and we are so excited but Shiri and the children still haven't returned," the Bibas family said on Instagram Friday. "We have such mixed emotions and we are facing extremely complex days."

"Hamas, where are the Bibas babies?" Israel's foreign ministry posted on X. "483 days have passed. Where are they?"

- Crowds mostly absent -

Ahead of both exchanges in Khan Yunis Gaza and Gaza City, scores of masked Hamas fighters stood sentry, apparently to control onlookers.

In contrast to Thursday's frenzied exchange which drew Israeli condemnation, large crowds were mostly absent.

Green Hamas and Palestinian flags flew at the Gaza port in a strong breeze.

Ranks of heavily armed Hamas fighters held portraits of the group's slain leaders, including military chief Mohammed Deif, accused by Israel of being a mastermind of the October 7 attack and whose death was confirmed on Thursday.

The arrangements for hostage handovers in Gaza have sometimes been chaotic, particularly Thursday's release in Khan Yunis.

Israel briefly delayed its prisoner release on Thursday in protest, and the ICRC urged all parties to improve security.

When Saturday's hostage release is completed, Gaza's key Rafah border crossing with Egypt is expected to reopen, a Hamas official and a source with knowledge of discussions told AFP.

"The mediators informed Hamas of Israel's approval to open Rafah crossing tomorrow, Saturday, after the completion of the fourth batch of prisoner exchange," the Hamas official said.

Rafah was a vital entry point for aid into Gaza before the Israeli military seized the Palestinian side of the crossing in May.

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Friday the bloc has deployed a monitoring mission at the crossing "to support Palestinian border personnel and allow the transfer of individuals out of Gaza, including those who need medical care".

- 'Where's Dad?' -

On Thursday, Israeli authorities released 110 inmates from Ofer prison, including high-profile former militant commander Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, who received a hero's welcome in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

On Friday, he called for "all our Palestinian people" to be freed from Israeli jails.

"The situation of the prisoners is very difficult and we hope for their urgent release," Zubeidi told AFP.

Also freed was Hussein Nasser, who received little attention from the crowd but was at the centre of his daughter's world.

"Where's Dad?" Raghda Nasser, 21, asked tearfully as she moved through the crowd, an AFP correspondent reported.

Her mother was pregnant with her when he was jailed 22 years ago.

"I just visited him behind the glass in Israeli prisons. I cannot express my feelings," Raghda said.

The fragile ceasefire's 42-day first phase hinges on the release of a total of 33 hostages in exchange for around 1,900 people, mostly Palestinians, in Israeli jails.

Negotiations for a second phase of the deal are set to start on Monday, according to a timeline provided by an Israeli official.

This phase is expected to cover the release of the remaining captives and to include discussions on a more permanent end to the war.

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST