Three more Israeli hostages were released Saturday in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners as the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas continued to hold. It was the fifth hostage and prisoner exchange to occur as part of the first phase of the deal, which began on Jan. 19.
Ohad Ben Ami, 56, Eli Sharabi, 52, and Or Levy, 34, were all taken hostage during Hamas’ brutal attack on Oct. 7, 2023 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and sparked the war in Gaza. More than 47,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, according to the local Hamas-run ministry of health.
Mohammad Abu Samra / AP
The release of the three male hostages followed the same choreography as previous releases: They were driven in white vans to a staged area where they were handed over to officials from the Red Cross. All three men looked very thin and frail.
“These are men who have endured hell itself,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Tel Aviv said in a statement after seeing the state of the three hostages on Saturday. “There can be no more delays – a second stage of the hostage deal must be implemented immediately!”
Israel’s Prime Minister’s office put out a statement after the release saying, “Due to the serious condition of the three hostages and the repeated violations by the Hamas terrorist organization, Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu has instructed to not allow the situation to go unaddressed, and to take appropriate measures.”
It was unclear, however, what those measures would be.
Shortly after the hostage handover in Gaza, a bus carrying Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank, as per the ceasefire agreement, Reuters reported.
Mahmoud Illean / AP
Ben Ami and Sharabi were kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7. Ben Ami’s wife, Raz, was also kidnapped, but she was released as part of a separate exchange deal in November 2023. Sharabi’s wife and two daughters were killed in the attack.
“I just hope that he already knows, because it’s just going to be another layer of torture for him to have survived for the 490 days and then to come out to that piece of news,” Sharabi’s brother-in-law, Stephen Brisley, told CBS News partner network BBC News ahead of his release.
Or Levy was attending the Nova music festival with his wife, Einav, when militants attacked. The two tried to take shelter in a bunker. Einav was killed, and Or was kidnapped.
The transfer came days after President Trump suggested that Palestinians in Gaza could be transferred to other countries, which sent diplomatic shockwaves around the world and sparked concerns that the fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas could fall apart.
So far, 18 hostages have been freed in exchange for over 550 Palestinian prisoners as part of the first phase of the deal. Negotiations over the second phase are underway.