'Wave of relief and joy': Four female Israeli hostages released by Hamas in prisoner swap

They were seen in videos pleading for help, their faces and clothing bloodied. They appeared dazed, and their hands were tied behind their backs. In some footage, they were taunted by their Hamas captors.

Now, Liri Albag, 19; Karina Ariev, 20; Danielle Gilboa, 20; and Naama Levy, 20, are back in Israel, released by Hamas on Saturday in return for Palestinian prisoners. All four women, Israeli soldiers, were freed in the second hostage and prisoners exchange between Hamas and Israel as part of a ceasefire aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza.

The women were freed in what appeared to be a heavily staged Hamas handover that saw them paraded while surrounded by gunmen with Hamas flags and bandanas. The hostages appeared to be wearing military uniforms and were taken to a stage for photographs. The hostages smiled and waved at a noisy crowd. Israeli medical specialists have concluded some hostages released in an earlier truce were drugged to keep them docile.

The women were seized at Israel's Nahal Oz base when Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 others back to the Palestinian enclave. They were part of a military surveillance unit, composed primarily of 18- to 21-year-old female soldiers, whose job it was to remain at the base near Gaza for hours, looking out for anything suspicious. Hamas held them captive for 477 days.

Their return to Israel was met by cheers ? and tears ? as crowds gathered in Tel Aviv to watch the event unfold on large screens set up in "Hostage Square," a public plaza in front of an art museum. Video footage released by Israel's Defense Forces showed the hostages' families clapping and crying as their daughters crossed into Israel.

"A wave of relief and joy envelops us," Albag's family said in a statement.

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Palestinian prisoners set for release

The ceasefire has temporarily halted a war that's seen more than 47,000 Palestinians killed in Israel's military offensive in Gaza, according to the strip's Hamas-run health authorities.

A week ago, in the truce's first exchange, three female Israeli hostages were swapped for 90 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and some minors held in Israeli jails on various charges that Israel describes as related to support for terrorism. Some others were not charged at all. On Saturday, Israel released 200 more Palestinians from its jails, including some who were serving life sentences for murder and may be deported to Egypt.

Israel is holding about 10,000 Palestinians in its prisons on what it calls "security grounds." Many Palestinians and some rights groups say they are often arbitrarily detained and denied access to their families and lawyers.

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The ceasefire consists of three stages. The first stage will see the release of 33 hostages held by Hamas for roughly 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. The two subsequent phases, still to be negotiated, aim to see the release of all the hostages in return for the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian inmates. With Saturday's release, there are now 90 hostages left in Gaza, of whom Israel estimates that between a third and half may be dead.

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Five 'spotters' kidnapped, four set free

Agam Berger, 21, was kidnapped alongside the four Israeli soldiers released Saturday. She was the only one of the group of surveillance "spotters" Hamas did not release. The Berger family only learned of their daughter's fate when she was shown bloody and distraught in body camera footage released by Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after its assault. Her hands were handcuffed behind her back. She sits on the floor with Albag, Ariev, Gilboa and Levy. They had just witnessed 15 of their friends and colleagues murdered at the base and a nearby kibbutz.

Capturing soldiers is not technically a war crime, though mistreating them is, and experts in the rules around warfare agree that no grievance can justify holding anyone hostage, whether from civilian or military life.

Hamas launched its attack in the early morning. Berger and some of the girls in the video were still wearing their pajamas. "You're beautiful," one of the Hamas militants tells one of the terrified soldiers in the video.

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"Every day is hard. The 100th day. The 150th day. The 200th day. You can't believe the days are passing by and they're still there. We have a lot of moments that are very, very hard," Shlomi Berger, Agam's father, said in an interview with USA TODAY, published when his daughter had been held hostage for an entire year.

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Wait goes on for American hostages

No American hostages were released.

Hamas is holding seven Americans. Four are believed dead. Two of the presumed living ones ? Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, from Connecticut, and Keith Siegel, 64, of North Carolina, are expected to be released within the next five weeks. The third, a soldier ? Edan Alexander , 21, from New Jersey ? will likely have to wait longer than that.

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There was also no sign Saturday of the Bibas family ? two parents and two small children abducted by Hamas. One of the children, Kfir, now 2, was 10 months old when he was kidnapped.

Last weekend, Hamas released Israeli hostages Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. As it did so it issued each of them with a paper "gift bag" and a certificate that said "release decision" on it.

Israeli media reported the bag also included a necklace, a map of Palestinian territory and photos.

"I have never seen or heard of such a bizarre thing in 49 years of studying terrorism," said Bruce Hoffman, a senior fellow on counterterrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank, in a social media post.

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Israel said Saturday that Hamas violated the terms of the ceasefire deal by not releasing Arbel Yehud, a 29-year-old civilian. It remains unclear why she was not freed.

As a result, Israel said it will still proceed with the ceasefire for now but not allow Palestinian civilians to return to northern Gaza until Yehud’s release is arranged.

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The situation creates more worry for everyone concerned, including the family and friends of Eitan Horn, 38, and his brother Yair, 46. They disappeared when Hamas swarmed through Kibbutz Nir Oz, on the border with Gaza.

Yair has diabetes and is therefore expected to be included in the truce's first stage.

His brother Eitan is not.

"This situation obviously creates despair in the family. A heartbreaking and impossible situation," said their friend Liad Gross, in a WhatsApp message.

"Every day that passes is terrifying. Every stage in the deal is scary and uncertain."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Four female hostages held in Gaza by Hamas return to Israel