Israel, Hamas Release Hundreds of Prisoners in Second Exchange

TaiwanPlus News

In the second prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, four female Israeli soldiers and 200 Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the ceasefire deal.

Transcript

00:00Heartfelt reunions across Israel and the Palestinian territories,

00:05as hundreds of prisoners are released,

00:08part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

00:12In Gaza, Hamas militants released four female Israeli soldiers

00:16to the International Committee of the Red Cross,

00:19returning to Israel and reuniting with their families

00:23after 477 days in captivity.

00:30I love you, all the citizens of the State of Israel,

00:33who supported our families and embraced them,

00:36and all the IDF soldiers who did everything for us.

00:39Thank you very much. I love you.

00:42In return, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners

00:46to cheering crowds across the West Bank and Gaza.

00:50I am very happy and honored,

00:53but I am also very sad,

00:56but I am also very happy,

00:59because there are still many brothers behind us in captivity.

01:02May God have mercy on the martyrs in Gaza,

01:04and may there be no more wounds in their chains.

01:07But shortly after the exchange,

01:09Israel accused Hamas of reneging on a part of the deal,

01:13and, in retaliation, refused to let Palestinians

01:16cross the border into northern Gaza,

01:19where hundreds are gathered, waiting to return home.

01:23Hamas failed to meet its obligations

01:27to first release Israeli female civilian hostages

01:31as part of the agreement.

01:33The planned exchange was the second

01:35since the ceasefire began on January 19th,

01:38part of a precarious and temporary deal

01:41after 15 months of negotiations.

01:44The next prisoner swap will take place

01:46in another long and tense seven days

01:49as families across borders wait

01:51for those held to come home.

01:53Chris Ma and Harrell Hughes for Taiwan Plus.

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