Hamas handed over 3 Israeli prisoners to the Red Cross as part of the fourth batch of the exchange deal
The al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, handed over three Israeli prisoners to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as part of the fourth batch of the exchange deal within the framework of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that went into effect on January 19.
The Red Cross left the handover site in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, after receiving two Israeli prisoners, one of whom holds French citizenship, from the al Qassam Brigades.
After receiving the two prisoners, the Red Cross team signed the receipt document on a platform set up by the Qassam Brigades at the delivery site.
The handover took place in the presence of hundreds of Palestinians and a heavy deployment of Qassam Brigades members, as the Brigades erected pictures of their leaders who were killed by Israel during the genocidal war it committed in the Strip.
The al Qassam Brigades transported the two prisoners to the delivery site in Khan Yunis in a black four-wheel drive vehicle that they likely seized during their storming of Israeli military sites on October 7, 2023, according to Palestinian sources.
According to Israeli army statement, “According to information received from the Red Cross, its members handed over two kidnapped Israelis who are on their way to a force from the Defense Forces and the Shin Bet inside the Gaza Strip”.
The Israeli Maariv newspaper reported that the two prisoners released from Khan Yunis, Ofer Calderon and Yarden Bibas, arrived at the initial reception point in the settlement of Reim, adjacent to the Strip.
In the fourth batch of the exchange deal, al Qassam received 3 Israeli prisoners in exchange for Israel releasing 183 Palestinians, including 18 sentenced to life in prison, 54 with long sentences, and 111 Palestinians from Gaza arrested after October 7, 2023.
In the port of Gaza City, the al Qassam Brigades handed over the third Israeli prisoner who holds US citizenship to the International Committee of the Red Cross in the port of Gaza City, after signing a receipt agreement between the Qassam members and the committee staff.
The al Qassam Brigades gave this prisoner two gifts, one of which was for his wife, who was released during the exchange deal that took place in the first deal in Gaza in November 2023.
For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that prisoner Keith Segal appeared on the Hamas platform carrying two bags of gifts from Hamas for him and his wife, Aviva, who was released as part of the first deal in November 2023.
The handover took place in the presence of hundreds of Palestinians and a heavy deployment of Qassam members who carried the “Ghoul” rifle for sniper operations, which the Brigades revealed it had developed and used in 2014.
