Israel-Hamas ceasefire: 3 more Israeli hostages freed under Gaza deal

Returning hostage Ohad Ben Ami has arrived at Ichilov Hospital, where he was greeted by his wife and daughters in an emotional reunion.

Returning hostage Eli Sharabi arrived at Sheba Hospital moments ago draped in an Israeli flag. Or Levy arrived at the same facility earlier today.

The Israeli military said today it has attacked a "weapons storage facility" belonging to Hamas in Deir Ali in southern Syria.

"The weapons stored inside the facility were intended to be used on attacks on IDF troops," the IDF said, accusing Hamas of using "Syrian soil for their terrorist activities."

Returning hostage Or Levy has arrived at Sheba Hospital in Israel after he was transported there by an Israeli Air Force helicopter, where he has been reunited with his family ahead of medical treatment.

Ohad Ben-Ami and Eliyahu Sharabi are also on their way to hospital, traveling in a separate helicopter. Sharabi is due to arrive at Sheba Hospital as well, while Ben-Ami is expected at Ichilov Hospital.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said today that it is "increasingly concerned about the conditions surrounding release operations," after facilitating the fifth hostage and prisoner exchange of the ceasefire.

Three hostages were transferred out of Gaza to Israel, and a total of 183 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli custody today.

"We strongly urge all parties, including the mediators, to take responsibility to ensure that future releases are dignified and private," it said.

Earlier today, each of the three hostages were interviewed on stage before their release, something that did not happen during previous releases.

Both Israel and Hamas have also shared concerns over the welfare of the hostages and prisoners released today.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his response to today's hostage release and failure to act sooner.

Netanyahu vowed to “take appropriate measures” after today’s release, pointing to “the serious condition of the three hostages.”

"Didn't you know before," Lapid wrote on X, saying that Netanyahu had been aware for months that they were in poor condition.

"What does it help them now that you “ordered to take action”? And if there are actions, why didn’t you order them earlier?" he added.

The Israeli military has released pictures of the moment the hostages were reunited with their families.

Ohad Ben-Ami hugged his wife Raz, who was also taken captive during Hamas' terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. She was released alongside 100 others as part of the weeklong ceasefire deal hostage deal in November 2023. 

Eli Sharabi was reunited with his mother and sister after 16 months in captivity.

Some of the 183 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis in buses belonging to the Red Cross.

Leaning out of the window, one made victory signs with his fingers and blew kisses to the waiting crowds.

Released hostages Ohad Ben-Ami and Eliyahu Sharabi are on their way to hospital in a helicopter alongside members of their family, the Israeli military has said.

Earlier, Or Levy, the third hostage freed today by Hamas, departed in a separate helicopter on his way to hospital.

Released hostage Or Levy, 34, is on his way to a hospital in an Israel Air Force helicopter, according to the Israeli military.

Levy was being transported alongside members of his family, and "will be reunited with other members of his family" at the hospital where he will also receive medical treatment, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Ohad Ben-Ami and Eliyahu Sharabi, who were also freed today, are expected to take off for hospital shortly with their families, the IDF said.

Surrounded by masked and armed Hamas fighters, each of the three hostages freed today was interviewed on the stage before they were transferred into the custody of the Red Cross. This had not happened in previous weeks when other hostages were freed.

The gaunt looking hostages appeared to questioned by one of the Hamas gunmen with a microphone. It was unclear if they were allowed to speak freely or if they had prepared for the interviews.

Ohad Ben Ami asked the Israeli government to push for a second and third phase of the ceasefire and hostage-release deal, and called for an end to the war, according to a translation by NBC News. He added that Netanyahu had failed on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of Hamas' terror attacks on Israel.

Eli Sharabi said he was aware his brother Yossi had died in captivity and said he was "very angry" with the Israeli government, while Or Levy said a negotiated deal was the "only way" to end the war.

Two girls were killed and another child from the same family was injured after a cement wall fell on them while they were playing in Gaza City, Hamas said today.

Salama Maroof, head of the government media office in the Gaza Strip, wrote on X that the house had previously been bombed by Israeli forces, and called for heavy machinery to help clean up hazards in the enclave.

“Fuel must be provided, and specialized technical crews must be allowed to arrive to deal with rubble and examine partially destroyed homes,” he said.

Seven of the Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel today have been taken to hospital due to “their poor health condition,” according to the Red Crescent.

Hamas said yesterday that 183 would be freed today. A group were taken to the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank earlier today. But it is unclear how many were freed.

There were jubilant scenes in the occupied West Bank today as a group of freed Palestinian prisoners arrived in the city of Ramallah earlier.

Some smiled and waved while others shed tears and they greeted their relatives.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with acting Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya and two other leaders of the Palestinian group in Tehran on Saturday, Iranian state TV reported.

“You defeated the Zionist regime, which was in fact America’s defeat,” Khamenei, whose country supports Hamas in its war with Israel, told the Palestinian delegation. “You did not allow them to achieve any of their goals.”

Iranian TV said the Palestinian leaders were in Tehran to congratulate Khamenei on the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution. They expressed gratitude for Iran’s continued support.

The delegation, which also included Mohammad Darwish, head of Hamas’ leadership council, and top Hamas official Nizar Awadallah, presented Khamenei a report on the current situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and “the victories and successes that were achieved”.

A Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners away from Ofer prison has now arrived in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

As in previous weeks, crowds gathered to greet the vehicle and welcome the detainees home with cheers and warm embraces between friends and relatives.

Many of the prisoners waved as they exited the bus and a throng of Palestinians gathered to take pictures and record the moment.

The prisoners released today will be brought to both the West Bank and Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Prisoners' Office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vowed to “take appropriate measures” after today’s hostage release, pointing to “the serious condition of the three hostages.”

The freed captives looked gaunt as they were paraded on stage by Hamas just before the were transferred into the custody of the Red Cross, and they were also interviewed on stage by one of the fighters.

Netanyahu has “instructed to now allow the situation to go unaddressed,” a statement from his office said, without giving further details. 

Israel's President Isaac Herzog said in separate statement the hostages were “being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle,” after suffering “491 days of hell.”

A Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners has left Ofer prison and is on its way to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Hamas' Prisoners' Media Office said.

After three Israeli hostages were released earlier, 183 Palestinian prisoners are set to be freed today, according to the militant group.

Israeli troops have gathered with their vehicles inside the Ofer military prison complex in the occupied West Bank ahead of the release of Palestinian prisoners today.

After three Israeli hostages were released earlier, 183 Palestinian prisoners are set to be freed today, according to Hamas.

Among the 183 Palestinian prisoners set to be released by Israel later today are 18 who were serving life sentences, Hamas said today in a statement.

It said 54 of the prisoners to be released were also serving “long sentences,” and that 111 of them were prisoners from Gaza arrested after the current conflict began on Oct. 7 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement celebrating the release of Ohad Ben-Ami, Or Levy, and Eliyahu Sharabi.

“The government, together with all of the security officials, will accompany them and their families,” it said. “The Israeli government is committed to the return of all the hostages and the missing.”

The three hostages released today by Hamas have crossed into Israel, according to the country's military.

“The returning hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will be reunited with members of their families,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Another 22 bodies have been recovered and taken to hospitals in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement today.

Two people also succumbed to their injuries and one person was killed in the last day, raising the overall death toll during the 15-month conflict with Israel to 48,181.

“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” it said.

The three hostages released today have been transferred to Israeli custody inside the Gaza strip, the country's military said.

The Israel Defense Forces said it the hostages would be taken to their homeland where they will undergo an initial medical assessment, before a helicopter will transfer them to hospitals.

The three hostages released by Hamas are now in Red Cross custody and on their way to Israel.

Accountant and father of three, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, was taken hostage from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the cross-border Hamas-led terror attacks on Oct 7, 2023.

His wife, Raz, was also taken captive, but she was released alongside 100 others as part of the weeklong ceasefire deal hostage deal in November 2023. 

Eli Sharabi, 52, also from Be’eri, was taken hostage in the attack, but his wife and two daughters were killed in the assault. His brother Yossi was also taken hostage, but Hamas announced his death last year. 

Each of the hostages have now been led off stage and transfered to the Red Cross vehicles, which are expected to take the trio into Israel.

As the vehicles departed the staging area, eight fighters took to the stage as a group, waving their arms and weapons aloft.

The Israeli military also announced that the hostages have been transferred.

Each of the three hostages was interviewed on stage by one of the fighters, something that did not happen during previous releases.

Three hostages, Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Ohad Ben Ami have emerged from the white van and have been ordered onto the stage alongside a number of fighters holding weapons.

The trio each appear to be holding a document, and are speaking to some of the fighters before their transfer to the Red Cross.

Two members of the Red Cross have taken to the stage alongside a fighter, who has presented the duo with a number of documents to sign, as we have seen in previous releases.

One of them has shaken the fighter's hand, and signed the documents which the Hamas fighter also stamped.

Three vehicles have arrived at the staging area ahead of the hostage release.

Either side of a white van, are white trucks carrying a number of fighters holding guns.

It is unclear if any of the vehicles are carrying the hostages.

An IDF investigation into the death of hostage Yossi Sharabi — whose brother Eli is due to be released by Hamas today — found he may have been killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza.

“It is possible that Yossi was killed by the collapse of a building adjacent to an IDF target,” the Israeli military said in a investigation presented to the Sharabi family in February 2024. “However, it cannot be ruled out that he was killed by Hamas.”

The IDF said “lessons were learned regarding target approval processes,” as a result of the investigation.

Red Cross vehicles have arrived in Deir Al-Balah, where Hamas are set to release three male civilian hostages today.

The convoy has had to weave its way through the hundreds of civilians who have gathered to watch the release, many of them holding their phones and cameras aloft to capture the moment.

Hamas vehicles carrying the hostages have not arrived yet.

The brother of Or Levy, one of the hostages who is set to be freed today, told Reuters he could not “even start to describe the emotions that the excitement,” he felt about seeing his sibling.

“We are waiting to hug him," said Michael Levy, adding that he was also thrilled that his nephew Almog, 3, would be able to hug his father again.

Levy was taken captive at the Nova music festival. His wife Einav was killed.

People have started to gather in Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square” ahead of today’s release. Some held Israeli flags and other posters of hostages who remain in captivity.

The four hostage and prisoner exchanges so far have seen 18 hostages freed by Hamas, with 583 Palestinian detainees released from Israeli custody, as agreed by phase one of ceasefire deal.

Israel is expected to released a further 183 prisoners today as part of an exchange that will see three male Israel civilians set free by Hamas.

Hamas fighters gather in Gaza's central city of Deir al-Balah ahead of the release of three Israeli hostages.

Hamas fighters preparing a stage for the release of three male civilian hostages in Deir al-Balah central Gaza.

As with previous releases, Hamas have set up Palestinian flags among Hamas flags around a stage upon which other hostages have stood before they are transferred to the Red Cross, with cameras and a sound system in place playing music.

Eli Sharabi, Or Levy, and Oyhad Ben Ami—in Deir al-Balah, are set to be released by the militant group this morning.

Hamas' prisoners' media office claimed this morning that Israeli forces raided the homes of family of some of the Palestinian prisoners set to be released today.

The office said the actions by Israeli forces took place in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

“During the raids, the occupation forces destroyed the contents of the homes,” the Hamas office said in a statement.

NBC News has not independently confirmed the details from the office.

Three Israeli hostages will be freed today, a spokesperson for Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said yesterday.

Abu Obeida said on Telegram that Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, would be released in exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

Ben Ami and Sharabi were taken from Kibbutz Be’eri, a community near the Gaza border that was devastated during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

Levy was taken captive on the same day at the Nova music festival in Israel's south.

For the first time in around nine months, children in need of urgent medical care were allowed to evacuate Gaza earlier this week at the enclave's southern Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Inside Gaza, Dr. Marwan Al Sultan told NBC News that people were in “need of a medical service.”

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