By Sophie Tanno and Mick Krever, CNN
A composite of Israeli hostages (L-R) Ohad Ben Ami, Or Levy and Eli Sharabi just before they were released by Hamas fighters in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on 8 February 2025. Photo: CNN
Three male Israeli hostages and 183 Palestinian prisoners were freed in the fifth round of exchanges between Israel and Hamas as Israel expressed concern about the appearance of the released captives.
Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy - all taken hostage during the Hamas-led 7 October attack on Israel - were handed to the Red Cross in the central city of Deir al-Balah on day 491 of their captivity in Gaza on Saturday (local time).
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 when they were led onto a makeshift stage.
On stage and surrounded by Hamas militants, 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.
Palestinian Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostages (L-R) Ohad Ben Ami, Or Levy and Eli Sharabi on a stage before handing them over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on 8 February 2025. Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana / AP via CNN
Following their transfer, Hamas also released a highly produced propaganda video showing the three men together inside a tunnel, in what was a departure from previous hostage releases.
Israel later released all 183 Palestinian prisoners due to be freed on Saturday.
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 7 October 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 [an] 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 4km from the Gaza border.
This combination of pictures created on 7 February 2025, shows portraits of Israeli hostages (L to R) Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami before they were captured by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023. Photo: -
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 7 October 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 7 October 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 the hostages "are thin … they are thin and pale - but slowly, slowly everything will work out."
She added that Levy and his three-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.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 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."
"But beyond that, [US] President [Donald] Trump completely agrees with me: We will do everything to bring back all the hostages, but Hamas will not be there," Netanyahu added.
US President Donald Trump (R) and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take questions during a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on 4 February, 2025. Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
Israel's Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres demanding him to "publicly condemn" Hamas "following the dire physical condition of the three Israeli hostages."
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.
Another group, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said this period had left families "scarred, and our hearts are still learning to believe the nightmare is over."
It released a statement from Levy's family saying, "These moments are overwhelming and filled with intense emotions of all kinds. We need this time as a family to gather together, breathe, process, and begin the healing and rehabilitation process."
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 demanded Netanyahu "immediately guide the Israeli negotiation team to begin intensive negotiations to finalize the release of all of the remaining hostages, including our son."
Israeli left-wing activists wave national flags and hold placards during an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv, on 4 May 2024. Photo: JACK GUEZ / AFP
They also urged President Trump to push to include six US citizens still held by Hamas in the next phase of the hostage release 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 7 October 2023, of 251 initially taken.
Three additional hostages held captive since 2014, are still in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel freed 183 Palestinians on Saturday.
Some of the released prisoners were brought 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.
A crowd welcomes Palestinians formerly jailed by Israel as they arrive in a Red Cross convoy to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on 30 January 2025. Photo: Wahaj Bani Moufleh / Middle East Images / AFP
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 Ben Gvir last year.
In comments made in April 2024, 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 centre must comply with Israeli law.
A spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service (IPS) 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 7 October, Hamas said in a statement.
The charges against the 111 were not clear.
Palestinian militants killed more than 1,200 people during the 7 October 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.
A member of the security forces walks past an Israeli police station in Sderot after it was damaged during battles to dislodge Hamas militants who were stationed inside, on 8 October 2023. Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP
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 1 March - 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.
Fueling more uncertainty, in remarkable comments on Tuesday evening, US President Donald Trump proposed that the US "take over" Gaza, relocate its residents to neighbouring countries, and redevelop the war-torn enclave.
His comments were welcomed by Israeli far-right ministers and condemned by Hamas.
His comments drew international condemnation, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressing that Palestinians "must be allowed home" and France's Ministry for Foreign Affairs reiterating "its opposition to any forced displacement."
A Hamas official slammed Trump's proposal as a "recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region."
"Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass, and what is required is to end the occupation and aggression against our people, not expel them from their land," Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said.
- CNN
