Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners freed as Israel condemns frail appearance of captives – CNN
Three male Israeli hostages and 183 Palestinian prisoners were freed in the fifth round of exchanges between Israel and Hamas Saturday, but the gaunt, frail appearance of the released hostages was condemned as “shocking” by Israel.
A group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza said it was “horrified by the visible physical and mental condition” of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who were paraded on a makeshift stage before the handover.
The three men – all taken hostage during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel – were handed to the Red Cross in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah on day 491 of their captivity. While the transfer was orderly – in contrast to chaotic scenes surrounding the release of Israeli and Thai hostages in Gaza last week – the three appeared thin and pale.
On stage and surrounded by Hamas militants, Ben Ami and Sharabi, who were dressed in brown, and Levy, who was dressed in green, delivered speeches in Hebrew. They were then led to three Red Cross vehicles waiting to take them back to Israel.
The Red Cross then passed the hostages to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, who transferred them back to Israel, where they underwent an initial medical assessment before being reunited with their families.
Following their transfer, Hamas also released a highly produced propaganda video showing the three men together inside a tunnel, in a departure from previous hostage releases.
Israel later released all 183 Palestinian prisoners due to be freed on Saturday, 18 of whom were serving life sentences. Many of them appeared emaciated and in poor health.
The scenes during Saturday’s hostage handover have drawn condemnation from Israel. Levy – who was released as he was considered a humanitarian case – appeared particularly frail.
The Israeli government described the scenes as “shocking” and said they “would not go unaddressed,” while Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the freed hostages’ appearances were “disturbing.”
The Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel, among the hardest hit in the October 7 attacks, said it was “happy and excited” for the hostages’ return Saturday, adding: “These images and the conditions in which they returned will be etched in the memory of the world and will be eternal testimony to the failure, to all who chose to oppose the deal, to all who continue to explain why we should wait, postpone or hesitate.”
Ben Ami, 56, and Sharabi, 52, were both taken from their homes in Kibbutz Be’eri, about four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Gaza border.
Ben Ami’s wife, Raz Ben Ami, also taken captive that day, was freed during a short-lived truce in November 2023.
Sharabi’s wife and daughters were killed in the October 7 attack, according to the kibbutz. It is unclear if he knew they were killed. His brother Yossi Sharabi, who was taken captive, died in Gaza, where his body remains, according to the Israeli military.
Levy, 34, was attending the Nova music festival on October 7 when he was kidnapped. His wife, Eynav, was killed in the attack.
Following his release, Levy’s mother Geula told Israel’s Channel 12 that she was sad to see the hostages “thin and pale,” but added that “slowly, slowly everything will work out.”
She added that Levy and his 3-year-old son, Almog, had reunited. “(They) met as if nothing had happened as far as Almog was concerned, as if nothing had happened. Now they are playing,” Geula Levy said.
In another interview with Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11 News, she said that Levy did not know that his wife had died. “He did not know. He assumed, and asked, and we told him,” his mother said.
Ruby and Hagit Chen, the parents of Itay Chen, a US hostage in Gaza, said “the pictures of Or, Ohad and Eli simultaneously widen and stab our hearts.”
They urged US President Donald Trump to push to include six US citizens still held by Hamas in the next phase of the hostage release deal.
The Hope (Tikva) Forum, which represents the families of some of the hostages, said Saturday it was “horrified by the visible physical and mental condition of Eli, Or, and Ohad. These images are haunting us and will not let us rest.”
“We will continue to fight and struggle until the last hostage is brought home,” the group added.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres demanding that he “publicly condemn” Hamas “following the dire physical condition of the three Israeli hostages.”
Netanyahu said in a video message from Washington, DC, following the release of three Israeli hostages, that his country “will do everything to bring all our hostages back.”
The news came as Netanyahu approved sending a delegation to Doha to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal. An Israeli official described the delegation to CNN on Saturday as “mid-level” and said it would “discuss technical details of the agreement.” The official said the team would not be discussing the second phase of the deal.
Hamas has now released a total of 16 Israeli hostages as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, of a total of 33 promised at staggered intervals during this stage. Eight of those 33 are dead, according to the Israeli government.
Following the release of the three hostages on Saturday, Hamas and its allies still hold a total of 73 people taken from Israel on October 7, 2023, of 251 initially taken. Three additional hostages, held captive since 2014, are still in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel freed 183 Palestinians Saturday. Some of the released prisoners were taken from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank to Ramallah, where video of their release showed some detainees weak and thin, with one man appearing so frail that he needed to be carried. Recently released Palestinian prisoners have returned from Israeli detention with signs of physical abuse and starvation, and have alleged abuse and torture.
The Israeli prison system has come under fire for intentionally reducing food servings to Palestinian prisoners in what’s been described as the minimum required for survival, on the orders of then National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir last year.
In comments made in April 2024, Ben Gvir said that Palestinian prisoners “should be killed with a shot to the head,” and called for a bill to allow for executions to be passed in the Israeli Knesset. “Until then, we will give them minimal food to survive. I do not care about this,” he said. In October, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that conditions in the notorious Sde Teiman detention center must comply with Israeli law. A spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service told CNN Saturday that the IPS “operates according to the provisions of the law” and that “all basic rights required are fully applied by professionally trained prison guards.”
Eighteen of the Palestinian prisoners released Saturday were serving life sentences, while 54 had lesser sentences and 111 were detained in Gaza after October 7, Hamas said in a statement. The charges against the 111 were not clear.
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Palestinian militants killed more than 1,200 people during the October 7, 2023, attack. Israeli bombardment of Gaza since has killed more than 48,000 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, reduced much of the enclave to rubble, and led to a humanitarian catastrophe for surviving residents. The war has spilled over into the wider region, putting Israel in conflict with key Hamas backer Iran, as well as Tehran proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Uncertainty looms over the future of the ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas. Negotiations on extending the Gaza ceasefire – which expires on March 1 – are in doubt.
Netanyahu has been deeply wary of phase two of that deal, which would see the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of the remaining hostages there. His finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has pledged to quit the government if the ceasefire continues.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Eugenia Yosef, Kara Fox, Ivana Kottasovà, Dana Karni and Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.
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