Eli Sharabi, Ohad ben Ami and Or Levy are now back in Israel – the three men looked thin and gaunt.. Three Israeli men, who were held captive in the Gaza Strip for 16 months, were released by Hamas on Saturday while Israel began freeing dozens of Palestinians as part of the truce deal. The day began in Deir al-Balah in Gaza, where Hamas handed the hostages– Ohad Ben Ami, Or Levy and Eli Sharabi– over to Red Cross officials –the fifth group freed under a fragile Gaza ceasefire.
Emaciated and disoriented, all three men were forced by their captors to address crowds gathered at their handover ceremony. A banner across the edge of the platform erected for the exchange declared “total victory” for Hamas in Hebrew and bore images of destroyed and rusted Israeli military vehicles.

Israel’s prison service says that all 183 Palestinian prisoners due to be released today have now been freed. According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, seven of them have been taken to hospital

The process today is part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that started on 19 January. Three hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack were released by Hamas on Saturday, with the men looking gaunt and unsteady on their feet as they were released by the terror group, 16 months after they were kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri and the Nova music festival.
Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, all appeared extremely thin and frail, and while they were able to walk, seemed to be unsteady on their feet.Details have emerged about some of the 183 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel today in exchange for three hostages being held by Hamas.
The details have been shared by the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
Among those freed was Eyad Abu Shkaidem, sentenced to 18 life terms in Israel for masterminding suicide attacks.
“Today, I am reborn,” Shkaidem told reporters upon arrival in Ramallah, as the crowd cheered.
Eyad Abu Shkaidem being through crowd after his releaseReuters
Another was Shadi Fakhri Barghouti, 48, who had served 21 years of a 27-year sentence. His father Fakhri Barghouti similarly spent 33 years in prison having been arrested when Shadi Fakhri was one, according to the society.
Also released today was Jamal Muhammad Farah al-Tawil, 61, who the society said had been in and out of Israeli prisons for years.
Falah Dheeb Shehadeh (Al-Sudani), 53, was also part of the deal, having been detained since 2004 after being sentenced to 27 years in prison. The society said he is married with four children, adding he was considered one of the more “active prisoners” held by the Israelis.
Another was 45-year-old Imad Abu Ajamiya, who was detained in 2003 and sentenced to 12 life sentences. The society said his father, mother, brother and sister died while he was imprisoned.