Earlier in the day, two other hostages—Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39—were freed in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Averu Mengistu (3rd from left) and Tal Shoham (extreme right). Pic/PTI
Hamas freed six Israeli hostages due to be released on Saturday even as heightened tension between the adversaries clouded the future of the fragile ceasefire deal.
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In the central town of Nuseirat, three Israeli men in their 20s—Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen—were posing alongside the fighters. A beaming Omer Shem Tov blew kisses to the crowd, flashed the thumbs up, and even kissed the militant next to him on the head.
Earlier in the day, two other hostages—Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39—were freed in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The sixth and final hostage was not immediately identified but is expected to be Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, a Bedouin Israeli with a history of mental health illness, crossed on his own into Gaza in 2015 and had been held since.
The latest release, to be followed by the freeing of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, is going ahead after tensions mounted over a grisly and heart-wrenching dispute triggered this week when Hamas initially handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two young boys abducted by militants.
The remains that Hamas transferred with her sons’ bodies on Thursday were later determined to be those of an unidentified Palestinian woman. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for “a cruel and malicious violation,” while Hamas suggested it had been a mistake.
The six hostages freed Saturday are the last living ones to be released under the first phase. The new releases brought a moment of joy and relief for families, but with the ceasefire’s future uncertain, fears remain over the fate of the remaining hostages seized during the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 in Israel and ignited the war.
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