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The Palestinian faction Hamas has freed two of three Israeli prisoners as part of a gradual exchange following a ceasefire agreement that ended the 15-month Israeli aggression in Gaza.
Ofer Kalderon, a French-Israeli national, and Yarden Bibas, an Israeli citizen, were handed over to the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, as shown on Al Jazeera TV on Saturday.
Hundreds of Hamas fighters were seen organizing the crowd in the area as Kalderon and Bibas were handed over to representatives of the International Red Cross.
Both prisoners have now returned to Israel, where they will undergo initial medical checks before reuniting with their families.
American-Israeli national Keith Siegel is also expected to be released soon in Gaza City in the northern part of the territory.
Reporting from the release site in Khan Younis, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum described the handover as “well-organized” compared to previous ones.
“The scene is quite remarkable, without the chaos seen in previous releases. Normally, such handovers are made under very tense circumstances,” he said.
Luciano Zaccara, a Middle East politics expert and professor at Qatar University, stated that the recent release of prisoners shows that Hamas is still capable of organizing and managing the situation in Gaza despite the Israeli bombardment.
“Even though Israel claimed that Hamas had been eliminated, the scenes we witnessed indicate that Hamas is still present,” he told Al Jazeera.
As part of the ceasefire agreement reached on January 19, Israel is expected to release 183 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth exchange of its kind.
On Saturday, the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is likely to reopen to allow seriously injured Palestinians to receive the necessary medical treatment.
Gershon Baskin, an Israeli columnist residing in West Jerusalem, mentioned in an interview with Al Jazeera that there is minimal discussion about the reopening of the Rafah crossing within Israel.
Negotiations are set to start by Tuesday on agreements for the release of the remaining captives, the release of more Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza as part of the second phase of the agreement.
The initial six-week ceasefire, brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators and supported by the United States, has so far proceeded smoothly despite a few incidents leading to accusations of violations from both sides.
According to Israeli estimates, the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 resulted in the death of approximately 1,200 individuals and the capture of over 250 people.
Israel’s response campaign has caused significant destruction in the densely populated Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of more than 47,000 Palestinians, as reported by Palestinian health authorities.
