The handover of four female Israeli soldiers by Hamas on Saturday came as Israel released 200 prisoners. But a dispute arose over the hostage release timetable.
Hamas on Saturday released four female Israeli soldiers held hostage in the Gaza Strip, in a choreographed ceremony that was the latest sign of the group’s effort to project power despite Israel’s 470-day military campaign to dislodge them.
It was the second release of hostages as part of a cease-fire deal that went into effect nearly a week earlier. Per the agreement, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday who had been held in Israeli jails.
A line of white buses carrying prisoners left Ofer prison in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Prisoners were also released from another facility near Beersheba in southern Israel, the Israeli prison service said.
Many of the 200 prisoners released on Saturday were serving life sentences for involvement in attacks against Israelis. Around 70 are being exiled abroad as part of the agreement and will not be allowed to return to their homes in the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to a list provided by the Palestinian authorities.
But the prisoner-hostage swap on Saturday did not go entirely to plan. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, accused Hamas of violating the deal by not returning captive Israeli civilians first. Israeli officials said that under the agreement, Arbel Yehud, an Israeli woman held hostage in Gaza, was supposed to be one of the four women released on Saturday.