Arbel Yehud, who was taken as a captive with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their Kibbutz Nir Oz home on October 7. Photo courtesy of Cairo 24 website.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had threatened to block Palestinians from returning to the northern Gaza Strip as stipulated in the ceasefire deal if Hamas does not release Yehud today.
Earlier Saturday, Hamas released four Israeli female soldiers to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) under the truce deal between Israel and Hamas, which went into effect on 19 January.
Later, in return, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday in exchange for the freed four Israeli captives, including 121 serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 79 serving long-term sentences.
Among those released today, 114 were dropped off near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and 16 were set to be released in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza received on Saturday 70 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails who will be deported from the Palestinian territories as per the ceasefire agreement.
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