Hamas frees two Israeli hostages as next ceasefire swap begins

KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian territories — Hamas on Saturday released two out of three Israeli hostages in the fourth exchange of the ceasefire deal, ahead of the expected release of 183 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas were paraded on a stage before being released to the Red Cross in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, AFP journalists reported, while Keith Siegel is set to be freed in a similar ceremony at Gaza City's port in the north.

Israel's military later confirmed that Bibas and Kalderon were back on Israeli territory.

After holding them hostage for more than 15 months, militants in Gaza began releasing captives on January 19, as the first phase of a ceasefire with Israel took effect.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants have so far handed over 18 hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many of them women and minors.

Later Saturday, Israel will free 183 prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group said.

"The updated number of prisoners to be released tomorrow is 183," the Club's spokeswoman Amani Sarahneh said Friday, after previously announcing that 90 prisoners would be freed.

During their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which started the Gaza war, militants abducted American-Israeli Siegel from the Kfar Aza kibbutz community, and Bibas and French-Israeli Kalderon from kibbutz Nir Oz.

Militants took a total of 251 people hostage that day. Of those, 76 remain in Gaza, including at least 34 the military says are dead.

Those seized include Bibas's wife and two children, whom Hamas has declared dead, although Israeli officials have not confirmed that.

The two Bibas boys -- Kfir, the youngest hostage whose second birthday was earlier this month, and his older brother Ariel whose fifth birthday was in August -- have become symbols of the hostages' ordeal.

The children were taken along with their mother, Shiri. Hamas says an Israeli air strike in November 2023 killed all three.

"Our Yarden is supposed to return tomorrow and we are so excited but Shiri and the children still haven't returned," the Bibas family said on Instagram Friday. "We have such