“PARADING OF BODIES”
The six Israelis launched on Saturday have been the final group of residing hostages set to be freed below the truce’s first part.
At a ceremony in Nuseirat, central Gaza, hostages Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23, waved from a stage, flanked by masked Hamas militants, earlier than being transferred to the Crimson Cross.
“I noticed the look on his face. He is calm, he is aware of he is coming again house … He is an actual hero,” mentioned Wenkert’s buddy Rory Grosz.
In Rafah, southern Gaza, militants handed over Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38.
A sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, 37, was later launched in non-public and brought again to Israeli territory, the army mentioned.
Sayed, a Bedouin Muslim, and Mengistu, an Ethiopian Jew, had been held in Gaza for a few decade after they entered the territory individually.
Hamas mentioned they freed Sayed in non-public to “honour and respect” Palestinians inside Israel.
On Thursday, the primary switch of lifeless hostages below the truce sparked anger in Israel after evaluation concluded that captive Shiri Bibas’s stays weren’t among the many 4 our bodies returned.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk condemned the “parading of our bodies” throughout a ceremony during which coffins, with photos of the lifeless hooked up, have been displayed on a slogan-bedecked stage.
Bibas and her two younger sons grew to become symbols of Israel’s hostage ordeal.
Hamas admitted a potential “mix-up of our bodies”, and late on Friday handed over extra human stays, which the Bibas household mentioned had been recognized because the mom’s.
Hamas has lengthy maintained that an Israeli air strike killed Bibas and her sons.
Forensics skilled Chen Kugel, nonetheless, mentioned an post-mortem of their stays discovered “no proof of accidents brought on by a bombing”.
