Or Levy, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami, hostages held in Gaza since the deadly Oct 7, 2023 attack, are released by Hamas militants as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel on Saturday — Reuters GAZA , Feb 08 (Reuters): Palestinian militant group Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages on Saturday, whose emaciated appearance shocked Israelis following their release on live TV, in the latest stage of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza.
Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, both taken hostage from Kibbutz Be'eri during the cross-border Hamas-led attack on Oct 7, 2023, and Or Levy, abducted that day from the Nova music festival, were led onto a Hamas podium by gunmen.
The three men all appeared thin, weak and pale, and in worse condition than the 18 hostages who had previously been freed under the truce agreed last month.
"He looked like a skeleton, it was awful to see," Ohad Ben Ami's mother-in-law, Michal Cohen, told Channel 13 News as she watched the Hamas-directed handover ceremony, which included them answering questions posed to them by a masked man as militants armed with automatic rifles stood on each side.
Dozens of armed Hamas fighters were deployed at the site in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, as the men were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross which was to transport them to Israeli forces in Gaza.
In exchange, Israel will release 183 Palestinian prisoners, some convicted of involvement in attacks that killed dozens of people and including 18 serving life sentences and 111 detained in Gaza during the war, according to Hamas.
For families of the Israeli hostages who have been held incommunicado in Gaza for more than a year, the wait has been a rollercoaster of dread and hope as the moments of reunion drew near.
Some face a painful return. Sharabi's two teenage daughters and his British-born wife were slain in the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri, where one in 10 residents was killed.
The exchange is the latest in a series of swaps that have so far returned 13 Israeli and five Thai hostages abducted during the Hamas attack and released 583 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Despite hiccups, a 42-day ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchange worked out with US backing and mediation by Egypt and Qatar has held up since it took effect nearly three weeks ago.
But fears the deal might collapse before all the hostages are free have grown since US President Donald Trump's surprise call for Palestinians to be moved from Gaza and for the enclave to be handed to the United States and developed into the "Riviera of the Middle East".
Gazans tell Trump they will rebuild
their own restaurants and hotels
Palestinians in Gaza say they are determined to rebuild their own seafront restaurants and hotels, dismissing US President Donald Trump's vision of creating a "Riviera of the Middle East" emptied of its population and under US control.
Before Israel's 15-month offensive left buildings across Gaza in ruins, the densely inhabited Palestinian territory had developed a local tourism scene on its Mediterranean shore despite a long blockade.
"There is nothing that cannot be repaired," said Gaza resident Assad Abu Haseira, pledging to start serving food from the restaurant he owns even before it is rebuilt.
"Trump says he wants to change the restaurants, and he wants to change Gaza and wants to create a new history for Gaza. We remain Arab and the history of Arabs will not be replaced with the history of foreigners."
Other Palestinians share his defiance.
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