Four female soldiers held hostage by Hamas for 477 days — Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag — were released by the terror group on Saturday after being paraded through a Gaza City square before being handed over to the Red Cross.
The release marked the second set of hostages to be freed under the latest ceasefire-hostage release deal. Israel was later to free 200 Palestinian security prisoners, including dozens serving life sentences for murder and terror.
Crowds of Palestinians gathered early in the morning in the same central square in Gaza City where Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released last week. However, the chaotic scenes of that release were not repeated, with Saturday’s handover heavily stage-managed by Hamas. Dozens of armed and masked Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen formed a cordon around a stage that had been set up in the square. A drone could be seen distributing candy to members of the crowd. (Ed note: it's a custom, see Rev 11:10) (Read More)
