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After over 500 days in captivity, six hostages were released on Saturday. These hostages are the last group of living hostages to be released in the first phase of the hostage release and temporary ceasefire agreement. Tal Shoham (39), Omer Shem Tov (21), Omer Wenkert (22), Eliya Cohen (26), Avera Mengistu (37), and Hisham al-Sayed (35) were reunited with their families in Israel. Four more hostages, all believed to be deceased, are expected to be released on Thursday.

IDF confirms identities of Bibas children, Ariel and Kfir, whose bodies were returned by Hamas on Thursday. Killed in November 2023 after being kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Ariel was four years old and Kfir was ten months old when they were murdered. In a serious violation of the current hostage release and temporary ceasefire agreement, the body thought to be their mother, Shiri Bibas, was confirmed to be an anonymous individual, not connected to any of the known hostages. The identity of Oded Lifshitz, the other hostage whose body was released in this exchange, was confirmed on Thursday.

Israeli officials confirmed that the bodies of Shiri Bibas (32) and her two young children, Ariel (5) and Kfir (2), along with 84-year-old journalist and peace activist Oded Lifshitz, will be returned to Israel tomorrow after being held captive for over 500 days. The Bibas family and Lifshitz were abducted from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023. Yarden Bibas, the father and husband, was released earlier this month after nearly 500 days in captivity. Their families have been notified, and the nation mourns their heartbreaking loss.

Israel confirmed that six hostages will be released on Saturday as part of the initial phase of the ongoing hostage release and temporary ceasefire agreement. The group includes Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who have been held captive by Hamas since 2014 and 2015, respectively. Also among the hostages to be released are Tal Shoham, abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri, and three men — Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert, and Eliya Cohen — who were taken captive at the Nova music festival on October 7.

On the 500th day since October 7, 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel and took hundreds of Israelis hostage, a number of families of current and former hostages rallied across Israel with supporters, organizing fasts and protests to demand the release of the remaining 70 hostages. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum organized a 500-minute fast and roadblocks across the country, as families voiced their anguish and called for action.

After 498 days in captivity, three hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, have been released and safely escorted back into Israel. Sagui Dekel Chen (36), Alexander Sasha Trufanov (29), and Iair Horn (46) reunited with their families on Saturday, with Dekel Chen meeting his infant daughter for the first time.