Day 505 - 6 gaunt hostages released by Hamas, 2 after a decade

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute
audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and
the Jewish world.


Military reporter Emanuel
Fabian joins host Amanda
Borschel-Dan for today's Daily Briefing.


Kibbutz Nir Oz said early Saturday morning that resident Shiri
Bibas was murdered while held captive in Gaza, after Hamas handed
over her body overnight and it was brought to Israel for
identification. Fabian updates us on what we know of her and her
children's fate.


Hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen,
Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed were released from captivity
and returned to Israel today, as part of the ongoing
ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.


The terror group paraded five of the six freed hostages on stages
in propaganda-filled handover ceremonies in two locations in
Gaza, handing them over to the Red Cross, while al-Sayed was
released separately to the Red Cross later in the day, without a
ceremony. We hear a little about each man's current status and
how he arrived in Gaza.


Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency reportedly
detained two Jewish Israelis and a Palestinian in connection with
explosions on three buses in central Israel Thursday night, as
the IDF bolstered operations in the West Bank following what is
thought to have been a narrowly averted large-scale terror
attack. There is a gag order on this case, so Fabian updates us
on what we are allowed to report.


Please see today's ongoing live blog for more
updates.


Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple
Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your
podcasts. This episode was produced by the Adina Karpuj.


For further reading:


Shiri Bibas’s body returned to Israel; officials assess
she was ‘brutally’ murdered with sons in Gaza


IDF: Captors murdered children Ariel and Kfir Bibas ‘in
cold blood’ with ‘their bare hands’


These are the six living hostages set to be released
Saturday


These are the 4 hostages set to be released on Thursday;
all are believed to be dead


2 Jewish Israelis, Palestinian said arrested in
connection with botched bus bombings


IMAGE: Israelis in Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, watch a big screen
showing the releases of hostages Avera Mengistu and Tal Shoham
from Hamas captivity in Gaza, February 22, 2025. (Roya Lavi /
Hostages Families Forum)


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