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The seventh handover of living hostages in the first phase of Israel’s cease-fire deal with Hamas was completed on Saturday with six hostages released: Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu from Rafah, Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov and Eliya Cohen from the Nuseirat refugee camp and Hisham al-Sayed from Gaza City.
Megnistu and al-Sayed were held captive for a decade, while the other four, abducted on October 7, endured 505 days in captivity.
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Six hostages released from Gaza on Saturday
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit, AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP, REUTERS/Ramadan Abed, )
The latest handover marked the final release of live hostages in the deal’s first phase, which included 33 hostages in total. So far, 29 Israelis have been freed during the first phase, including this week's release of the bodies of hostages murdered in captivity — Shiri Bibas and her children, Ariel and Kfir, along with Oded Lifshitz.
Four more bodies are set to be returned as part of the deal next week, including Shlomo Mansour, who has already been officially declared deceased. This will mark the final week of the first phase, which lasted 42 days.
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Some 59 hostages will remain in Gaza following it, including 35 confirmed as deceased. Among the 24 classified as alive but not included in the first phase are two foreign nationals — Bipin Joshi from Nepal and Pinta Nattapong from Thailand.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuת U.S. President Donald Trump
(Photo: Yair Sagi, ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP, AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Talks for the deal’s second phase, which is meant to secure the release of all remaining live hostages and end the war in Gaza, have not officially begun and its prospects remain unclear. Negotiations are expected to be complex, with Israel demanding all terror groups in the Strip disarm themselves.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to resume fighting “He’s not divided on this decision. He wants to continue,” he said.
Another possibility raised is extending the first phase with additional hostage releases. Under the agreed framework, the temporary cease-fire could continue as long as negotiations for the second phase progress, even beyond the initial 42-day period.
Meanwhile, an Israeli official said on Saturday that Netanyahu will convene a security assessment "aimed at returning all of our hostages - living and deceased."