Handover of Israeli captives showed Palestinian factions ‘intact’
The handover of the four Israeli captives was a clear message that the “command and control of Hamas is intact and other Palestinian factions as well”, according to Muhanad Seloom, an assistant professor in critical security studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar.
“But even before that, the negotiations were well orchestrated with Palestinian factions inside and outside Palestine,” Seloom told Al Jazeera. “Now, on the ground, they are saying ‘we are still carrying the last banner, we are still alive and winning,'” he said.
Seloom added that the handover was “well-planned messaging … theatre for Hamas” but that the group is “playing into Israeli politics”. “[Israel] is very much polarised right now, and Netanyahu will take the hit sooner or later [for not signing a deal earlier],” he explained.
‘Excited, exhilarated’: Crowds in Tel Aviv await captives’ return
In Tel Aviv’s central square, dubbed Hostages Square, a big screen showed the faces of the four female soldiers that were released. In the crowds at the square, people waved Israeli flags, while some held posters with the captives’ faces.
“I’m extremely excited, exhilarated,” one person among the crowd, Gili Roman, told The Associated Press news agency. “In a heartbeat, in a split of a second, their lives are going to turn upside again, but right now for a positive and a good side.”
He said his sister was released in the only other ceasefire in November 2023, but another relative was killed in captivity.
Palestinians ready to ‘start moving north’ tomorrow
This is definitely a historic day. Everything that happened in the past hour has been amazing – the podium in Gaza City where the Israeli captives appeared, the celebration, the uniforms, Palestinian Islamic Jihad appearing with Hamas.
Beyond that, Palestinians are now going to be able to go back to their homes in northern Gaza. In less than 24 hours, Palestinians can start moving north. They’re going home. They’re going back to their neighbourhoods.
This is something Palestinians have been waiting on for the past 15 months. According to our sources, there is a huge crowd very close to Wadi Gaza, with a lot of Palestinians waiting to start moving.
Palestinians are tired of being displaced, exhausted from living in harsh conditions. They have waited so long for the day they could freely move from the southern part to the northern part of Gaza.
Israelis celebrate release of female soldiers
People in Tel Aviv follow the news of the release of the four Israeli soldiers
Mixed feelings in Israel after soldiers’ release
Former Israeli Ambassador Alon Pinkas says Israelis are caught between “tears of joy” and anxiety after four more captives were released from Gaza.
“The hearts and minds of many are split-screened,” Pinkas told Al Jazeera. “On the one hand, you have jubilation and elation and tears of joy … but the other part of the screen focuses on those who have not been released, with the fear that this process may collapse at any given moment.”
There is also widespread “anger at the government” for not getting the captive release deal done sooner, Pinkas said. “This deal could have been reached in May 2024 rather than in January 2025,” he added.
Israel not looking at images coming out of Gaza, occupied West Bank
Israel is “overwhelmed by the release of the four female soldiers”, according to Gideon Levy, columnist at the Israeli news outlet Haaretz.
“Israel does not look to the other people who are released today [who] also deserve freedom the same as the soldiers … but that’s not the way that Israel perceives it. For Israel, it’s a price it had to pay [in] releasing murderers, even though most of them are not murderers at all,” Levy told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.
“Israel has its own selective way to look at reality,” he added.
Levy explained that he is “very very sceptical” about the second stage of the ceasefire deal. “It depends much not on Israel but on the United States. [President] Donald Trump has proved that if he wants Israel to sign a deal, it did so within days,” he said.
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