Middle East crisis live: Hamas releases five more hostages as Israel prepares to free hundreds of Palestinians

It’s just gone 2.30pm in Gaza and Jerusalem. If you’re just joining us, here are the day’s main developments so far:

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  Hamas has released five hostages in two separate ceremonies in Gaza. The group plans to release one more hostage later today.

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  Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert have all been returned to Israel. Mengistu had been in Gaza for 10 years.

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  In return, Israel is preparing to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

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  The body of the Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas has been identified, Israel’s army radio reported early on Saturday, after the remains intitially retiurned were found to belong to someone else

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  The Bibas family say they have been provided no official details relating to how their loved one dies – and have asked that the media stop sharing or publishing any details they hear. It comes after the IDF released a description of how it claimed the children had died.

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  Hamas said on Saturday it was ready to move to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal and to carry out a comprehensive hostage-prisoner exchange to achieve a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.

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Israeli authorities have not provided any details regarding the killing of three Bibas family hostages after they were taken to Gaza during the 7 October attack by Hamas militants, the family said in a statement, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

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“Any publication of details (including references to the treatment of the bodies) is against the family’s wishes, and we ask that this be avoided,” the statement said. “The family has not received any such details from official sources,” it added.

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The family statement comes a day after IDF released a description of how it claimed the children had died.

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Three more Israeli hostages have been released in Gaza by Hamas. Live TV footage showed three men led on to a stage in Nuseirat in central Gaza by armed militants.

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Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert were seen waving on stage in front of Hamas propaganda, reports the Times of Israel.

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Israeli hostage Avera Mengistu exits a military helicopter as he arrives to the Ichilov hospital after being released by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel.”,”caption”:”Freed Israeli hostage Avera Mengistu exits a military helicopter as he arrives to the Ichilov hospital after being released by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:true,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1740220813000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”05.40 EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1740224978000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”06.49 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1740221130000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”05.45 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”05.45″,”title”:”Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert handed over to ICRC in Nuseirat”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Sat 22 Feb 2025 07.34 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Sat 22 Feb 2025 01.32 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Live footage has shown International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) vehicles arriving at a second site for Saturday’s hostages handover, reports Reuters. The ICRC vehicles are in central Gaza’s Nuseirat.

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More details soon …

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According to Reuters, Hamas said on Saturday it was ready to move to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal and to carry out a comprehensive hostage-prisoner exchange to achieve a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.

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The two hostages in Rafah have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross and driven away in its vehicles.

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Welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East crisis. It’s just after 8.30am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv – here’s the latest news.

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Israel prepared on Saturday to receive six more hostages from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, after accusations over the return of a misidentified body this week threatened to derail a fragile truce.

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After Hamas handed over another body on Friday, Israel’s army radio reported early on Saturday that it had been identified as Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas, adding that she was likely killed in captivity with her children.

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The six hostages set to be freed on Saturday are the last living hostages from a group of 33 due to be freed in the first stage of the ceasefire deal agreed last month, Reuters reports.

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Four of the hostages – Eliya Cohen, 27, Tal Shoham, 40, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Omer Wenkert, 23 – were seized by Hamas gunmen during their attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Another two, Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, and Avera Mengistu, 39, have been held by Hamas since they entered Gaza separately under unexplained circumstances around a decade ago.

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six Israeli captives due to be released by Hamas today”,”caption”:”The six Israeli captives due to be released by Hamas today.”,”credit”:”Photograph: AFP/Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In return, Israel is expected to release 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held in its jails in the latest exchanges under a ceasefire that has held up despite a series of problems that have come close to sinking it.

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Late on Thursday, Israel accused Hamas of violating the truce by handing over an unidentified body instead of the remains of Shiri Bibas that were due to be returned along with the bodies of her two small sons. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed revenge for what he described as a “cruel and malicious violation” of the ceasefire agreement.

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Hamas said her remains appeared to have been mixed up with other human remains recovered from the rubble after an Israeli airstrike it said killed her and her two sons in November 2023, and on Friday the militant group handed over another body. The Bibas family – which became an indelible symbol of the 7 October attack – said in a statement on Saturday that “this morning we received the news we feared the most. Our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home to her sons, husband, sister and all her family to rest”.

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In other developments:

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  The Bibas family accused Netanyahu of failing to protect their loved ones during Hamas’s 2023 attack and of failing to bring them home. “There is no forgiveness for abandoning them on October 7, and no forgiveness for abandoning them in captivity,” said Ofri Bibas, the sister-in-law of Shiri Bibas, in a statement.

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  Netanyahu said he has ordered the Israeli military to carry out an intensive operation against what he called “centres of terrorism” in the West Bank. He also said on social media that he had ordered Shin Bet and police to increase “preventative” measures against attacks on Israeli cities. It followed a series of explosions on three parked buses in Bat Yam, a city outside Tel Aviv, on Thursday night. Authorities said they were a suspected terrorist attack. No injuries were reported.

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  More than half a million children have been left without education across Gaza and the West Bank, according to the International Rescue Committee. The NGO warned that vital aid for children in the region was being scuppered by increasing violence.

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  Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman held a meeting with Egyptian and Jordanian leaders described as “an informal brotherly gathering” by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. It came ahead of an Arab League summit likely to discuss the Gaza Strip after the US president, Donald Trump, proposed it “take over” the territory and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents, a plan Arab countries have universally rejected.

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  Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald will boycott St Patrick’s Day events in the US over Gaza. She and Northern Ireland’s first minister, Michelle O’Neill, said they would not attend the celebrations after Trump’s call to exile Palestinians from the territory.

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The day so far

It’s just gone 2.30pm in Gaza and Jerusalem. If you’re just joining us, here are the day’s main developments so far:

• Hamas has released five hostages in two separate ceremonies in Gaza. The group plans to release one more hostage later today.

• Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert have all been returned to Israel. Mengistu had been in Gaza for 10 years.

• In return, Israel is preparing to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

• The body of the Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas has been identified, Israel’s army radio reported early on Saturday, after the remains intitially retiurned were found to belong to someone else

• The Bibas family say they have been provided no official details relating to how their loved one dies – and have asked that the media stop sharing or publishing any details they hear. It comes after the IDF released a description of how it claimed the children had died.

• Hamas said on Saturday it was ready to move to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal and to carry out a comprehensive hostage-prisoner exchange to achieve a permanent ceasefire and complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The family of Avera Mengistu, the Israeli captive held longest by Hamas in Gaza, celebrated his release from captivity earlier. Mengistu walked into Gaza in 2014 and had been held by Hamas ever since.

The Israeli army said that the three hostage released by Hamas in Nuseirat today, Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert, have now crossed into Israel.

According Al Jazeera, Israeli authorities have released the names of 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees who are expected to be released today. The publication shared the following:

As we reported earlier, 50 of those to be released are serving life sentences. The list also reportedly includes 60 people serving long sentences, 47 who were released as part of a 2011 exchange for an Israeli prisoner and arrested again, and more than 100 who are to be deported immediately.”

Israeli authorities have provided no details on killing of Bibas hostages, says family

Israeli authorities have not provided any details regarding the killing of three Bibas family hostages after they were taken to Gaza during the 7 October attack by Hamas militants, the family said in a statement, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Any publication of details (including references to the treatment of the bodies) is against the family’s wishes, and we ask that this be avoided,” the statement said. “The family has not received any such details from official sources,” it added.

The family statement comes a day after IDF released a description of how it claimed the children had died.

Some more images have been shared on the newswires:

A Red Cross convoy has departed Gaza’s Nuseirat area with three more freed Israeli hostages, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert handed over to ICRC in Nuseirat

Three more Israeli hostages have been released in Gaza by Hamas. Live TV footage showed three men led on to a stage in Nuseirat in central Gaza by armed militants.

Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert were seen waving on stage in front of Hamas propaganda, reports the Times of Israel.

Here are some of the latest images coming in via the newswires:

Live TV footage shows officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) making their way to the stage in Nuseirat in central Gaza, as they prepare to sign paperwork before the latest handover of hostages by Hamas.

The Times of Israel reports that three hostages will be handed over to the Red Cross in Nuseirat soon. They are: Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert.

Another hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, will be will be handed over to the Red Cross at a third site, in Gaza City, reports the publication, citing an Israeli defence official.

Al Jazeera reports that al-Sayed will be released without a ceremony.

The Guardian have been unable to independently verify the reports.

Away from Gaza and Israel for a moment. Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, will travel to Lebanon for the funeral of longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports, citing Iranian media.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out in Beirut for the funeral, according to AFP.

An Israeli airstrike killed Nasrallah on 27 September last year at the start of an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel after roughly a year of lower-level conflict. The massive airstrike on Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold also killed Abbas Nilforoushan, a senior commander in Iran’s al-Quds force – the foreign operations arm of its Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Ghalibaf “along with a number of parliamentarians and state officials will leave on Sunday for Lebanon to attend Nasrallah’s funeral”, member of parliament Alireza Salimi told the official IRNA news agency on Saturday. On Friday evening, the Fars news agency reported that foreign minister Abbas Araghchi would also attend the ceremony.