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Applause and cheers filled a Tel Aviv square on Saturday as Gaza militants released four Israeli hostages, followed by celebrations in the occupied West Bank when Israel freed 200 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.While Israel and militant group Hamas completed their second hostage-prisoner swap under a ceasefire deal aimed at paving the way for a permanent end to their war, a last-minute dispute blocked the expected return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to the Gaza Strip’s devastated north.The four hostages released, all women soldiers, reached a hospital on the outskirts of Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv after more than 15 months of captivity in Gaza.Israel’s prison service confirmed that 200 Palestinian prisoners were freed in exchange, with some of them subsequently deported.The Israeli captives, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy, all aged 20, and Liri Albag, 19, waved, smiled, and gave thumbs up as they were paraded on a stage in Gaza City, flanked by masked and armed militants.After their handover to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the military said the women were brought to Israel and “reunited with their parents”.In Tel Aviv, where a crowd gathered to watch their release on a large TV screen at a plaza known as Hostage Square, there were tears of joy, applause and a loud cheer as Israeli flags waved.In Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, crowds of Palestinians erupted in joy as dozens of freed prisoners arrived on buses from jail.One of them, Azzam al-Shallalta, dropped to his knees and wept at his mother’s feet after the teary-eyed crowd carried him on their shoulders, an AFP journalist reported.”My situation was heartbreaking, truly heartbreaking. We pray to God to free all our brothers we’ve left behind,” said Shallalta, still wearing his grey prison tracksuit.- ‘Relief’ – The freed Israeli hostages were taken by military helicopter to the Rabin Medical Centre, whose deputy director Lena Feldman Koren said the four were in a “stable” condition even though “the prolonged captivity in harsh conditions is evident”.Footage released by the military showed the families overcome with joy at being back together.Albag and her parents were seen screaming with happiness and laughing while her father lifted her off the ground in a bear hug.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Albag’s parents after her release, telling them that “this is a very happy moment that we have been waiting for a long time”, according to a statement from his office.Bulgaria’s foreign ministry welcomed with “great relief” the release of Gilboa, who is a dual national.The United States, which had helped secure the truce deal, said it “will continue with its great partner Israel to push for the release of all remaining hostages”.Later on Saturday, Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv to call on their government to ensure all hostages, including those not due for release during the first phase of the truce, return home.”We will do everything, we will fight until the end,” said Ifat Kalderon, whose cousin Ofer Kalderon is held in Gaza.State-linked Egyptian media said 70 freed Palestinian prisoners “deported” by Israel had arrived in Egypt by bus. They were to travel on into exile in third countries.Those expelled have been serving sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis, according to a list made public by Israeli authorities.In the south Gaza city of Rafah, a crowd gathered to welcome 14 prisoners released by Israel and sent to the territory.Majda Balousha said she had hoped her husband would return to a “prosperous and not destroyed” Gaza.”But praise be to God who liberated him,” she said.The hostage-prisoner exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday.Hundreds of truckloads of aid have entered Gaza daily since then, but the UN says “the humanitarian situation remains dire”.And Israel’s UN ambassador has said that the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Gaza’s main aid agency, must end all operations in Israel by Thursday in line with legislation passed by parliament.- ‘We miss home’ – Israel announced on Saturday that it would block the return of Palestinians displaced from northern Gaza until civilian woman hostage Arbel Yehud is released.Netanyahu’s office said she “was supposed to be released today”, but a Hamas source told AFP Yehud will be “released as part of the third swap set for next Saturday”.Palestinian police prevented hundreds of displaced people from reaching the Israeli-controlled passage to the north, where Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles were blocking the road.Rafiqa Subh, waiting to return to Beit Lahia, said: “We want to go back, even though our houses are destroyed. We miss our homes so much.”The ceasefire agreement should be implemented in three phases. The last two have not yet been finalised.The deal’s second phase is to see negotiations for a lasting end to the war, but analysts have warned it risks collapsing because of the deal’s multi-phase nature and deep distrust between Israel and Hamas.During the first, six-week phase, 33 hostages should be freed in staggered releases in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.Militants released three hostages on the first day of the truce in exchange for 90 Palestinians.During Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that began the war, militants took 251 hostages, 87 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.burs-jd/ami/kir

A loud cheer swept through the crowd gathered at a Tel Aviv plaza known as Hostage Square, where giant screens livestreamed the long-awaited release of four Israeli hostages on Saturday, the latest to be freed under a Gaza ceasefire deal.Hundreds gathered at the square in the early morning in anticipation of the release of the four hostages, all women soldiers. Some attendees wore yellow t-shirts bearing the slogan: “You are not alone.”Many Israelis began to breathe a sigh of relief as the ceasefire and hostage release deal, which also sees Palestinian prisoners freed, got underway last Sunday after a 15-month ordeal.”I’m super excited, waves of excitement and happiness,” said Shlomi Ben Yakar, 54. “In the past it felt like a dream, and now it’s a good dream that is coming true.”All eyes were fixed anxiously on the screen for hours, awaiting the arrival of an International Committee of the Red Cross convoy at a square in the centre of Gaza City.As soon as the four women’s silhouettes appeared on the screen, cries of joy erupted, with many embracing one another tearfully in celebration.Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, all aged 20, and Liri Albag, 19, waved, smiled, and gave thumbs up as they were paraded on a stage in Gaza City, flanked by masked and armed militants.”The feeling is great, excitement, tears and joy, it’s all at once,” said Sima Ben Naim, a 70-year-old from Tel Aviv.”It’s not only happiness, we also have tears, and I hope all (the hostages) will return.”One woman cried and laughed holding up a picture of Levy, under whose name appeared the number 19, struck through and corrected with the number 20, indicating the age she turned while in captivity.There were more scenes of jubilation when Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced on live television that the four women had arrived in Israel, after 477 days in war-ravaged Gaza.- ‘Bring them home’ -Hana Mamalia, a 71-year-old from Ramat Hasharon, told AFP: “I almost fainted, my husband had to hold me, I have no voice, it’s good, I hope all will return home in peace. Amen!”Militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which triggered the war. Of those, 87 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.The first, six-week phase of the ceasefire that began on Sunday should see the staggered release of a total of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.”Bring them home now!” shouted a group of women in the crowd in Tel Aviv, echoing the slogan of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group.Many fear for the fate of the remaining hostages as far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition oppose the ceasefire.Hours after Saturday’s hostage release was completed, thousands of protesters again gathered in Tel Aviv as they have done weekly throughout the war to pressure the authorities to secure the release of hostages.An AFP correspondent said the demonstrators chanted in support of the return of all remaining hostages, including those not slated for release during the first phase of the truce.”The families cannot breathe. We are under immense stress… We will do everything, we will fight until the end, until the last hostage” returns, said Ifat Kalderon, whose cousin Ofer Kalderon is still held in Gaza.Efrat Machikava, niece of hostage Gadi Mozes, said that “our hearts are filled with joy for the four hostages who returned to us today, but we are extremely concerned for our loved ones still held in terrorist captivity.”

Clutching Hamas-branded gift bags and wearing military fatigues, the four Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas on Saturday to the Red Cross waved and gave thumbs up as they were paraded on stage before dozens of militants and a huge crowd.Hundreds of Gaza residents who gathered to watch the scene responded with cheers, whistles and shouts before the women were escorted off stage and into the hands of the Red Cross, an AFP reporter said.In contrast to chaotic scenes the week before, when crowds threatened to overwhelm vehicles holding the three hostages released at the time, hundreds of the militants arrived before the handover and quickly established a cordon keeping the crowd well away from the slick handover proceedings.Masked, armed Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants had arrived at Palestine Square in SUVs and on motorcycles with sirens blaring shortly before 9:30 AM (0730 GMT), an AFP reporter saw.Carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers they fanned out across the square, many carrying their groups’ banners and wearing green headbands, as local residents gathered.Sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad told AFP they had deployed around 200 members of their armed wings, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Quds Brigades respectively, to secure Palestine Square where the handover was to happen.Footage released later by the Hamas armed wing showed the women before their release being given the gift bags, which included woolly hats, key chains and framed certificates commemorating the “Al-Aqsa Flood deal”, using the name given by the Palestinian group to its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.Speaking to camera while still being held hostage, the women thanked the militants for feeding, clothing and looking after them.- ‘Release certificates ‘-Off to one side, dozens of Gazans including young children and teenagers had scaled a huge mound of rubble in front of a collapsed building to secure a view of the expected release.Just under 90 minutes later, a convoy of four white SUVs from the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived and entered the small square staked out by the fighters. Minutes later, five cars carrying the hostages arrived. On a stage flanked by pickup trucks mounted with high-calibre guns, a Red Cross staff member in a bright red cargo vest sat at a desk alongside a masked Hamas fighter in the group’s distinctive headband and camouflage fatigues.Behind them stood the Palestine Shopping Centre, pockmarked with the scars of bombings and adorned with a giant Palestinian flag.The two men signed “release certificates” for the hostages, with a sign beneath them adorned with the emblems of the Israeli military and security services and the accompanying message in Hebrew: “Zionism will not prevail”.Shortly after, the four hostages emerged to whistles, cheers and shouts from the crowd, as Hamas camera crews and photographers swarmed around them.The women, all wearing green military fatigues with their hair up in high ponytails were then escorted onto the stage where they smiled, waved and gave thumbs up to the crowd who shouted cheerfully back and whistled.Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy — all aged 20 — and Liri Albag, 19, were all captured from a military surveillance base in Nahal Oz during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. Moments later, they were escorted off the stage and into the Red Cross SUVs which drove off through the crowd, past buildings devastated by more than 15 months of war. str-az-skl-dcp/jd/ami

Some of the few remaining survivors of Auschwitz will gather at the site of the Nazi death camp on Monday as the world marks the 80th anniversary of its liberation in the final months of World War II.Around 50 ex-inmates are expected at a ceremony outside the historic gate of Auschwitz II-Birkenau alongside dozens of leaders including King Charles III and French President Emmanuel Macron.”This year we will focus on the survivors and their message,” Auschwitz Museum spokesman Pawel Sawicki told AFP. “There will not be any speeches by politicians.”Speaking to AFP ahead of the anniversary, survivors around the world spoke about the need to preserve the memory of what happened when there will no longer be living witnesses.They also warned about rising hatred and anti-Semitism around the world and spoke of their fears about history repeating itself.The ceremony is set to start at 1500 GMT and 54 international delegations are expected, including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.Organisers said it could be the last major anniversary with such a large group of survivors.”We all know that in 10 years it will not be possible to have a large group for the 90th anniversary,” Sawicki said.- 7,000 survivors -Auschwitz was the most notorious of the extermination camps and has become a symbol of Nazi Germany’s genocide of six million European Jews, one million of whom died at the site between 1940 and 1945, along with more than 100,000 non-Jews.It was created in 1940 using barracks in Oswiecim, southern Poland. Its name was Germanised into Auschwitz by the Nazis.The first 728 Polish political prisoners arrived on June 14 of that year.On January 17, 1945, as Soviet troops advanced, the SS forced 60,000 emaciated prisoners to walk west in what became known as the “Death March”.From January 21-26, the Germans blew up the Birkenau gas chambers and crematoria and withdrew as Soviet troops approached.On January 27, Soviet troops arrived, finding 7,000 survivors.The day of its liberation has been designated by the United Nations as Holocaust Memorial Day.Until its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a Russian delegation had always attended the annual liberation ceremony but Moscow will be barred for a third time this year.There has also been controversy following rumours about the possibility that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could attend the ceremony.The International Criminal Court last year issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on suspicion of crimes against humanity and war crimes.After a request from Polish President Andrzej Duda, the Polish government confirmed last month that it would not arrest Netanyahu if he were to visit even though it appears that the Israeli leader has no plans to.- ‘Never forget’ -Some 40 survivors of the Nazi camps agreed to talk to AFP as in the run up to the anniversary.In 15 countries, from Israel to Poland, Russia to Argentina, Canada to South Africa they sat in front of our cameras to tell their stories, alone or surrounded by their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren — proof of their victory over absolute evil.”How did the world allow Auschwitz?” asked 95-year-old Marta Neuwirth from Santiago, Chile.She was 15 when she was sent from Hungary to Auschwitz.Julia Wallach, who is nearly 100, has difficulty talking about what happened without crying.”It is too difficult to talk about, too hard,” she said. The Parisian was dragged off a lorry destined for the gas chamber in Birkenau at the last minute.But hard as it is to relive the horrors, she insisted she would continue to give witness.”As long as I can do it, I will do it.” Beside her, her granddaughter Frankie asked: “Will they believe us when we talk about this when she is not there?”That is why Naftali Furst, a 92-year-old Israeli Auschwitz survivor born in Bratislava, has been going to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic for years to tell his story “so the younger generations never forget what happened”.It is also why Esther Senot, 97, braved the Polish winter last month to go back to Birkenau with French high school students. She was keeping a promise she made in 1944 to her dying sister Fanny, who — laid out on the straw coughing up blood — asked her with her last breath to “tell what happened to us… so that we are not forgotten by history”.

Azzam al-Shallalta dropped to his knees and wept at his mother’s feet as he arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah with other Palestinian prisoners released under the Gaza ceasefire on Saturday.A jubilant crowd carried Shallalta on their shoulders from the bus that brought him from jail, the freed prisoner still wearing his grey prison tracksuit.”My situation was heartbreaking, truly heartbreaking. We pray to God to free all our brothers we’ve left behind,” he told the crowd, his head shaved and his face pale and thin under a long red beard.”I can’t describe the feeling — just hearing the news that I would be released was overwhelming”, he said while shaking hands with well-wishers.Around him Palestinians cheered and waved the national flag, as they welcomed dozens of prisoners who arrived in buses.Hundreds waited in the local sports centre where the prisoners were dropped off for a short health checkup, while hundreds more watched on from the surrounding hills as fireworks went off.Israel said it released 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday in exchange for four Israeli women soldiers held in Gaza since Hamas’s October 2023 attack which sparked the war.Not all of the prisoners were bused to Ramallah. Sixteen were taken to Gaza, while 70 were sent via Egypt into exile in Algeria, Tunisia or Turkey.A total of 121 of the prisoners released had been serving life sentences.- So ‘much love’ -Tareq Yahya, another freed prisoner, spoke with emotion as he stepped off the bus into the crowd.”It’s amazing how much love our people have shown us, how they’ve stood by us and expressed their solidarity,” the 31-year-old from the northern West Bank city of Jenin said.Looking through the crowd, Yahya searched for relatives, finding none.”It seems, based on the situation in Jenin, they weren’t able to make it,” he said, referring to an ongoing Israeli military operation in the city. “I’ll try to find them, though.”Thinking of the other prisoners who will be released in the coming weeks in exchange for Gaza hostages, Yahya said the ceasefire’s guarantors “need to set strong conditions to prevent the beatings, humiliation and mistreatment the jailers have inflicted on us in these last days before our release”.Maisa Abu Bakr, 33, came early with her family to see her uncle Yasser Abu Bakr, whose name was on the list of those to be released this week.She said they avidly followed the news “on Telegram and TV, and we were ready, wearing our (best) clothes, waiting for the time to get out and come here”.Yasser Abu Bakr had been in jail since 2002 serving multiple life sentences.”When the lists were published, we saw his name and we were surprised because we didn’t expect that he would be freed.”- ‘Left hoping’ -Others were not so lucky, like the family of Sadiqi al-Zaro, 65, who made the time-consuming journey from the southern West Bank city of Hebron through multiple Israeli checkpoints to Ramallah.Zaro’s nephew Tareq told AFP the family had come after receiving a phone call from an Israeli intelligence officer who said he would be among those released on Saturday.”We were shocked when the official lists were announced and his name wasn’t included,” he said.The procedures for clearing prisoners for release are opaque and the final list was not released until a few hours before the buses arrived.”There have been a lot of issues since the beginning of this prisoner release process. It’s been difficult for families to get clear confirmation,” Tareq al-Zaro said, his cousins nodding in agreement.He said he was still hoping for his uncle’s release after 24 years in prison.”We’re leaving this in God’s hands. We came here based on a phone call, and God willing, he’ll be released based on an official announcement”.

The Lebanese army said on Saturday it was ready to deploy its forces in the country’s south, accusing Israel of “procrastination” in its withdrawal under a ceasefire, a day before the pullout deadline.Under the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that came into effect on November 27, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws over a 60-day period that ends Sunday.Hezbollah is to pull back its forces north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.”There has been a delay at a number of stages as a result of the procrastination in the withdrawal from the Israeli enemy’s side,” the army said in a statement.It said it was “ready to continue its deployment as soon as the Israeli enemy withdraws”.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that the military’s withdrawal would continue beyond the Sunday deadline.”The withdrawal process is conditional upon the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, with Hezbollah withdrawing beyond the Litani River,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.”Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, the gradual withdrawal process will continue in full coordination with the United States.”Ceasefire mediators the United States and France have helped monitor its implementation.- ‘Be cautious’ -The accusation from the Lebanese army comes after UN chief Antonio Guterres called on January 17 for Israel to end its “occupation” of the south.In a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Lebanon’s new President Joseph Aoun spoke of the “need to oblige Israel to respect the terms of the deal in order to maintain stability in the south,” his office said.Aoun said last week that Israel must “withdraw from occupied territories in the south within the deadline set by the agreement reached on November 27”.Lebanon’s army urged people to “be cautious in heading back to the southern border areas, due to the presence of mines and suspicious objects left behind” by Israeli forces.Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that some people displaced from border areas had received international calls, purportedly from an Israeli military spokesperson, warning them not to return home.It said several border villages had been sealed off by the Israeli army while troops carried out demolitions. It reported one resident wounded by Israeli fire.A Lebanese government source told AFP that “caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati contacted the new US administration, warned of the gravity of Israel’s attempt to circumvent the implementation of the ceasefire, and stressed the need to respect deadlines”.A Lebanese military source said Israeli forces had “completed their withdrawal from the western sector” of the south in early January, but “have not completed their withdrawal from the eastern sector as their withdrawal from the middle sector was delayed”.- ‘Flagrant violation’ -Hezbollah began exchanging low-intensity cross-border fire with the Israeli army the day after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by its Palestinian ally Hamas which triggered the war in Gaza.Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in September, launching a series of devastating blows against the group’s leadership that saw its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah killed in an air strike in Beirut.Hezbollah warned on Thursday that “any violation of the 60-day deadline will be considered a flagrant violation of (the ceasefire) agreement, an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and the occupation entering a new chapter”.It said the Lebanese state should use “all means necessary… to restore the land and wrest it from the clutches of the occupation”.A committee composed of Israeli, Lebanese, French and US delegates and a representative of UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL is tasked with ensuring any ceasefire violations are identified and dealt with.The UN peacekeeping force has reported Israeli violations of the terms of the ceasefire.Guterres said peacekeepers had also found more than 100 weapons caches belonging “to Hezbollah or other armed groups”.

Four Israeli women soldiers freed from captivity in Gaza reached Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, central Israel, on Saturday accompanied by their parents aboard a military helicopter, AFP journalists reported.The Israeli health ministry later confirmed that they had arrived at the hospital. It said staff there were ready to “provide comprehensive medical care, including psychological support” for the women who had spent 477 days in captivity. The Israeli military said earlier in a statement that “Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev, together with their parents, just boarded an Israeli air force helicopter to make their way to the hospital, where they will be reunited with the rest of their families and receive medical treatment”.The four women were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday morning, before being passed to the Israeli military who transported them out of the Palestinian territory. They were then reunited with their parents at a military base on the border with Gaza before boarding the helicopter. Footage released by the military showed the families overcome with joy at being back together.Albag and her parents were seen screaming with happiness and laughing while her father lifted her off the ground in a bear hug. Speaking directly to the camera she said: “I love you, all the citizens of the State of Israel, who supported our families and embraced them, and all the (Israeli) soldiers who did everything for us. Thank you very much, I love you all,” before making a heart symbol with her hands. All four of the families were seen sharing tender moments together, crying, hugging and kissing.Outside the hospital in Petah Tikva, around 10 kilometres (seven miles) east of Tel Aviv, crowds waving Israeli flags gathered to greet the arriving helicopters.As they had done six days before during the first hostage release of this ceasefire, officials deployed a covered walkway to preserve the privacy of the hostages. Earlier in the day, the hostages were paraded on a stage in central Gaza City by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross.

A loud cheer swept through the crowd gathered at a Tel Aviv plaza known as Hostage Square, as giant screens livestreamed the long-awaited release of four Israeli hostages on Saturday, the latest to be freed under a Gaza ceasefire deal.Hundreds had arrived in the square in early morning in anticipation of the four women soldiers’ release. Many wore yellow T-shirts with the words “You are not alone” printed in Hebrew.Many Israelis began to breathe a sigh of relief as the ceasefire and hostage release deal, which also sees Palestinian prisoners freed, got underway last Sunday after a 15-month ordeal.”I’m super excited, waves of excitement and happiness,” said Shlomi Ben Yakar, 54. “We didn’t believe in the past it felt like a dream, and now it’s a good dream that is coming true.”All eyes had been fixed anxiously on the screen for hours, awaiting the arrival of an International Committee of the Red Cross convoy at a square in the centre of Gaza City.As soon as the four women’s silhouettes appeared on the screen, cries of joy erupted, with many embracing one another tearfully in celebration.Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, all aged 20, and Liri Albag, 19, waved, smiled, and gave thumbs up as they were paraded on a stage in Gaza City, flanked by masked and armed militants.”The feeling is great, excitement, tears and joy, it’s all at once,” said Sima Ben Naim, a 70-year-old from Tel Aviv. “It’s not only happiness, we also have tears, and I hope all (the hostages) will return.”- ‘Bring them home’ -One woman cried and laughed holding up a picture of Levy, under whose name appeared the number 19, struck through and corrected with the number 20, indicating the age she turned while in captivity.There were more scenes of jubilation when Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced on live television that the four women had arrived in Israel, after 477 days in war-ravaged Gaza.Hana Mamalia, a 71-year-old from Ramat Hasharon, told AFP: “I almost fainted, my husband had to hold me, I have no voice, it’s good, I hope all will return home in peace. Amen!”Militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which triggered the war. Of those, 87 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.The first, six-week phase of the ceasefire that came into effect on Sunday should see the staggered release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.”Bring them home now!” shouted a group of women in the crowd in Tel Aviv, echoing the slogan of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group.Many fear for the fate of the remaining hostages as far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition oppose the ceasefire.

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 Palestinians to devastated northern Gaza.As part of the exchange, the second since the truce took effect last Sunday, four freed Israeli women hostages, all soldiers, arrived home in Israel after more than 15 months of captivity in Gaza.In exchange, Israel’s prison service confirmed that 200 prisoners, whom it called “terrorists”, were freed.The Israeli captives, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy, all aged 20, and Liri Albag, 19, waved, smiled, and gave thumbs up as they were paraded on a stage in Gaza City.Masked and armed militants flanked them during a slick ceremony watched by hundreds of residents.In Tel Aviv, where a crowd gathered to watch their release on a large TV screen at a plaza known as Hostage Square, there were tears of joy, applause and a loud cheer as Israeli flags waved.After their handover to the Red Cross, Israel’s military said the women were transferred back into Israel and “reunited with their parents”.They were later taken by military helicopter to the Rabin Medical Centre, where they would receive “comprehensive medical care, including psychological support”, according to Israel’s health ministry.Buses carrying the released Palestinians left Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and Ktziot prison in the Negev desert.As dozens of the former prisoners reached the West Bank city of Ramallah, crowds of Palestinians erupted in joy, raising many of them onto their shoulders, an AFP journalist said.The Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group said among those to be released was Mohammed al-Tous, 69, who has spent the longest continuous period in Israeli detention.- Aid surge-Bassem Naim, of the Hamas political bureau, had told AFP on Friday that Palestinians displaced by the war to southern Gaza should have been able to begin returning to the north following Saturday’s releases.But Israel on Saturday said it would block such returns until civilian woman hostage Arbel Yehud is released.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said she “was supposed to be released today” but a Hamas source told AFP Yehud will be “released as part of the third swap set for next Saturday”.On social media platform X, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, reiterated that Gazans were not allowed to approach the Netzarim corridor through which they have to pass to reach their homes in the north.The truce has brought a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into rubble-strewn Gaza, but Israel’s UN ambassador on Friday confirmed that the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Gaza’s main aid agency, must end all operations in Israel by Thursday.The hostage-prisoner exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday, and which is intended to pave the way to a permanent end to the war.Mediators Qatar and the United States announced the agreement days ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Trump has since claimed credit for securing the deal after months of fruitless negotiations.The ceasefire agreement should be implemented in three phases, but the last two stages have not yet been finalised.- Deported -During the first, 42-day phase, 33 hostages Israel believes are still alive should be freed in staggered releases in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.Three women hostages returned home on the first day of the truce in exchange for 90 Palestinians.Among the overall group of Palestinians to be freed, more than 230 are serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis and will be permanently expelled, according to a list made public by Israeli authorities.State-linked Egyptian media on Saturday said 70 freed Palestinian prisoners “deported” by Israel had arrived in Egypt by bus. They were to transit and go on to third countries.The deal’s second phase is to see negotiations for a more permanent end to the war, but analysts have warned it risks collapsing because of the deal’s multi-phase nature and deep distrust between Israel and Hamas.During their October 7, 2023 attack that began the war, Hamas militants took 251 hostages, 87 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, a majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures which the UN considers reliable.- ‘Situation remains dire’ -Almost the entire Gaza population of 2.4 million has been displaced by the war”Probably between 65 percent to 70 percent of buildings in Gaza have either been entirely destroyed or damaged,” Achim Steiner, the head of the UN Development Programme, told AFP in Davos, Switzerland.Hundreds of truckloads of aid have entered Gaza daily since the ceasefire began, but the UN says “the humanitarian situation remains dire”.The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, will be effectively barred from operating as of Thursday.In a letter addressed to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon confirmed: “UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city, no later than 30 January 2025.”UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned on Friday that preventing the agency from operating “might sabotage the Gaza ceasefire, failing once again hopes of people who have gone through unspeakable suffering.” burs-jd/ser/it/jsa