A loud cheer swept through the crowd gathered at a Tel Aviv plaza known as Hostage Square, as giant screens livestreamed the long-awaited release of four Israeli hostages on Saturday, the latest to be freed under a Gaza ceasefire deal.
Hundreds had arrived in the square in early morning in anticipation of the four women soldiers’ release. Many wore yellow T-shirts with the words “You are not alone” printed in Hebrew.
Many Israelis began to breathe a sigh of relief as the ceasefire and hostage release deal, which also sees Palestinian prisoners freed, got underway last Sunday after a 15-month ordeal.
“I’m super excited, waves of excitement and happiness,” said Shlomi Ben Yakar, 54. “We didn’t believe in the past it felt like a dream, and now it’s a good dream that is coming true.”
All eyes had been fixed anxiously on the screen for hours, awaiting the arrival of an International Committee of the Red Cross convoy at a square in the centre of Gaza City.
As soon as the four women’s silhouettes appeared on the screen, cries of joy erupted, with many embracing one another tearfully in celebration.
Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, all aged 20, and Liri Albag, 19, waved, smiled, and gave thumbs up as they were paraded on a stage in Gaza City, flanked by masked and armed militants.
“The feeling is great, excitement, tears and joy, it’s all at once,” said Sima Ben Naim, a 70-year-old from Tel Aviv. “It’s not only happiness, we also have tears, and I hope all (the hostages) will return.”
‘Bring them home’
One woman cried and laughed holding up a picture of Levy, under whose name appeared the number 19, struck through and corrected with the number 20, indicating the age she turned while in captivity.
There were more scenes of jubilation when Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced on live television that the four women had arrived in Israel, after 477 days in war-ravaged Gaza.
Hana Mamalia, a 71-year-old from Ramat Hasharon, told AFP: “I almost fainted, my husband had to hold me, I have no voice, it’s good, I hope all will return home in peace. Amen!”
Militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which triggered the war. Of those, 87 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
The first, six-week phase of the ceasefire that came into effect on Sunday should see the staggered release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
“Bring them home now!” shouted a group of women in the crowd in Tel Aviv, echoing the slogan of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group.
Many fear for the fate of the remaining hostages as far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition oppose the ceasefire.
