Israel-Hamas ceasefire live updates: Fourth prisoner-hostage exchange to include American
Orderly handover of two hostages in Khan Younis
In a choregraphed handover streamed on live TV, masked and uniformed Hamas militants paraded two hostages across a stage set up in Khan Younis.
The orderly exchange with the Red Cross contrasted with Thursday’s chaotic handover.
Two of the three hostages on their way back to Israel
The IDF said two of the hostages expected to be turned over today are on their way back to Israeli territory.
The two — Bibas and Kalderon — will undergo a medical assessment, the IDF said.
“The IDF is prepared to receive an additional hostage in the near future,” it said. Siegel is expected to be the third hostage to be released today.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the families of the two men have been told they “have joined our forces.”
“The government, together with all security agencies, will accompany them and their families,” the office said.
Israeli military confirms the handover of two hostages
The Israel Defense Forces said it has received information from the Red Cross that two hostages were transferred to them and are on their way to IDF forces in the Gaza Strip.
Video broadcast by Sky News showed two of the hostages — Kalderon and Bibas — coming out to a platform and a handover in Khan Younis.
Several Red Cross vehicles were seen leaving the handover
Siegel was not at the Khan Younis ceremony and it was not immediately clear whether he was at a separate handover ceremony in Gaza City.
The hostage exchange is underway in Gaza
Hamas handed over Israeli hostages Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon to the Red Cross in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Saturday, live TV footage showed.
American Keith Siegel among three hostages named by Hamas for release
American Israeli Keith Siegel is among the hostages set to be released Saturday, Hamas said in a statement Friday, as part of the fourth hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel.
Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon will also be released, according to Hamas’ statement.
Siegel, 65, was last seen in a video released by Hamas in April, where he spoke directly to his family to say he was doing OK. Originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Siegel was taken from kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that saw some 250 people kidnapped and about 1,200 killed.
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