Six Israelis & Nearly 500 Palestinians Freed In Final Phase 1 Ceasefire Exchange

The final six living hostages who were still in Hamas captivity have been released on Saturday, as part of the final hostage/prisoner exchange closing out phase one of the Israel-Hamas truce deal.

They are Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, and this marks the largest single day of releases of this current ceasefire deal. There are four more deceased hostages whose bodies are expected to be handed over Saturday. 

The men were released in two different locations, all looking frail, apparently having suffered significant weight loss.

Two of the Israeli men had already been captive in Gaza long before the events of Oct.7. They’ve been freed after a full decade, shockingly enough:

Shoham, Shem Tov, Wenkert and Cohen were all taken captive on October 7, 2023 during the Hamas-led attacks and massacres, and had been held as hostages in Gaza for over 500 days.

Mengistu and al-Sayed both entered Gaza on their own accord in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and had been held captive by terror groups in Gaza for around a decade each.

There are reports that the agreed to release of Palestinians prisoners from the Israeli side was delayed, but is now being facilitated.

It is a huge release this time – involving the transfer of 491 Palestinian detainees. The Red Cross is conducting pre-departure interviews and medical assessments, and are in contact with relatives.

Whether the ceasefire continues to hold into a second phase remains an open question. Each side has accused the other of violating the terms of the truce over the last month. 

Spokesman for Hamas’ political bureau Basem Naim has described, “Unfortunately, Netanyahu and his government have been rejecting to engage with the second phase while only one week is left from the first phase. We believe that again, these are dirty games from the right-wing government to sabotage and undermine the deal and to send a message of willingness to go back to war.”

At least one of the captives who had long been held by Hamas was mentally unwell when he was taken hostage:

Avera Mengistu was born in Ethiopia in 1986. At 5 he & his family were rescued and brought to @Israel in Operation Solomon. Mentally unwell, he crossed into Gaza in 2014 and was taken hostage by Hamas, who refused to give a sign of life for 8 years. Today he is back in Israel. pic.twitter.com/rCoFwiIRJm

— Pamela Paresky(Habits of a Free Mind) (@PamelaParesky) February 22, 2025

“Over 100 Palestinians have been killed in the first phase, much of the agreed humanitarian aid was not allowed into Gaza, and the withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor was postponed,” Naim said.