Family members of Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Saturday have said they were “horrified” by the “grotesque spectacle” of the exchange.
The three Israelis, Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy, had been held hostage in Gaza for 16 months and appeared emaciated and pale as they were handed over to the Red Cross. Before they were released they were paraded on stage by Hamas fighters, presented with a certificate, and interviewed – in a show condemned as “cynical and cruel” by Israel’s president.
Hamas released the Israeli hostages in the fifth such exchange under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal. Israel also released 183 Palestinians on Saturday to fulfil its side of the agreement, with images showing people hugging and cheering as people were returned to the occupied West Bank.
Under the terms of the deal, Hamas agreed to gradually free 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians.
Dozens of masked and armed Hamas fighters were deployed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, on Saturday at the site where the group handed over the hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Crowds of hundreds of people gathered at the site, where the ICRC vehicles waited to collect the hostages and transport them to Israeli forces in Gaza.
Before the three men were put into the vehicles, they were led onto a stage by Hamas fighters. They were given what appeared to be certificates of their release and then appeared to be interviewed, as militants armed with automatic rifles stood on each side. After this display they were escorted off stage and into the Red Cross cars.
This was the first time hostages freed during this phase of the ceasefire have been made to make public statements during their release.
The family of Mr Sharabi said they were “delighted” he is finally free but added that they were horrified at his physical condition. In a statement released on Saturday, they said: “We are saddened but unfortunately not surprised at Eli, Ohad and Or’s physical condition and the grotesque spectacle of their release, which should be a wake-up call, if one were needed, to ensure the speedy return of all the other hostages.”
Mr Sharabi, 52, was reportedly at his home in Kibbutz Beeri with his British-born wife and their teenage daughters when it was stormed by Hamas on 7 October 2023.
Mr Sharabi’s wife and two daughters were killed and he was taken to Gaza alongside his brother Yossi, who was inadvertently killed early last year inside Gaza by an IDF strike.
According to multiple reports in Israeli media, Mr Sharabi had been unaware that his family had been killed during the 7 October assault.
Mr Sharabi’s brother-in-law Steve Brisley, from Bridgend, Wales, said seeing Mr Sharabi released “has been a day of relief, all the way through joy, all the way through to heartache”.
He said his brother-in-law looked “incredibly frail, incredibly pale”, adding: “Eli has always been a very happy, smiley man… the spark was gone from his eyes … It’s not the Eli that I know and love.”
Ohad Ben Ami’s mother-in-law, Michal Cohen, told Channel 13 News: “He looked like a skeleton, it was awful to see.”
His daughter Ella Ben Ami told the Times of Israel that she “barely recognised” her father. She added: “It took me a second to realise that it was dad. I’m sure we’ll get past that quickly. I simply want to hug him. He’s come back on his own two feet. He’s strong. He survived it.”
Ayelet Hakim, sister-in-law of Ohad Ben Ami, said: “It’s been very hard to see him like that. He doesn’t look like himself. He looks like he’s suffered a lot for such a long time.”
Reacting to images of the hostages being paraded on stage by Hamas fighters, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “we will not gloss over the shocking scenes that we saw today”.
Israel’s president Isaac Herzog said the images of the hostages demonstrated a “crime against humanity”. He said on X (Twitter): “This is what a crime against humanity looks like! The whole world must look directly at Ohad, Or, and Eli – returning after 461 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained – being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle by vile murderers.”
Gal Hirsh, the coordinator of prisoners in the Israeli prime minister’s office, said that Israel would respond to “Hamas’ repeated violations” of the deal, referring to the health of the hostages.
Ahead of his release, Astrid Dafan-van Dien, a friend of Mr Sharabi, said: “We are counting the minutes, the seconds and we just want him to be here already, although it will be very difficult because of Lianne (Sharabi’s wife) and the girls.”
Ben Ami, 56, was abducted with his wife Raz Ben Ami from their home. She was released during the one-week truce in November 2023.
Or Levy, 34, was taken hostage at the Nova music festival. His wife was killed during the attack, and the couple’s young son has been under the care of family members.
Michael Levy, brother of Or Levy, said ahead of the exchange: “I can’t even start to describe the emotions, the excitement, how happy we are that it’s finally close to be over.
“We are waiting to hug him, waiting to see Almog [Levy’s son], hugging his father again.”
Following the handover of the hostages, images emerged of a bus carrying freed Palestinians departing Ofer prison, an Israeli military prison.
Israel has freed 183 Palestinian prisoners, some convicted of violent attacks, as well as others who were detained during the war and who have not been convicted of crimes.
The Hamas-run prisoners’ media office said that of the 183, 18 had been sentenced to life in prison, 54 had long sentences and 111 were arrested in Gaza after 7 October 2023.
In Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, a bus carrying 42 freed Palestinian detainees was welcomed by a cheering crowd. Some waved Palestinian flags and others chanted “Allahu Akbar” or “God is most great”.
The Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said six of the 42 released in the West Bank were in poor health and were taken to hospital. Some prisoners complained of ill-treatment.
The exchanges come after US president Donald Trump proposed that Palestinians be moved out of Gaza, a suggestion welcomed by Israel and swiftly rejected by the Palestinians and much of the international community.
Israeli media reported on Saturday that Mr Netanyahu had dispatched a delegation to Doha, Qatar, for the next phase of ceasefire talks.
Agencies have contributed to this report
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