Three Israeli Hostages Freed After 484 Days in Hamas Captivity Three Israeli hostages, including a US citizen, were freed after 484 days in Hamas captivity. They were handed over in calmer, staged events, then transferred to IDF custody for medical checks and reunions with family Simcha Pasko/The Media Line Three Israeli hostages, held by Hamas […]
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The Media Line: Three Israeli Hostages Freed After 484 Days in Hamas Captivity
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Three Israeli Hostages Freed After 484 Days in Hamas Captivity
Three Israeli hostages, including a US citizen, were freed after 484 days in Hamas captivity. They were handed over in calmer, staged events, then transferred to IDF custody for medical checks and reunions with family
Simcha Pasko/The Media Line
Three Israeli hostages, held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for 484 days, have been released and are now on their way to being reunited with their families. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed that Keith Siegel, 65, a dual US-Israeli citizen, was handed over on Saturday afternoon in Gaza City’s port area.
Just hours earlier, Hamas operatives had transferred two other long-term captives, 54-year-old Ofer Calderon and 35-year-old Yarden Bibas, to Red Cross custody in Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza.
All three handovers appear to have proceeded more calmly compared to previous releases. Footage from Gaza City showed Siegel wearing a black cap and briefly waving to a small crowd before stepping off a stage set up in front of the Mediterranean Sea.
The platform was adorned with images of slain Hamas military leaders and a slogan in Hebrew reading “Zionism will not win.” Dozens of armed and masked Hamas operatives formed a cordon, but they did not engage in the chaotic public displays seen during the release of two other hostages, Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes, just two days earlier.
In Khan Yunis, where Bibas and Calderon were handed over to Red Cross personnel, Hamas also erected a stage before the hostages were escorted into waiting vehicles. The two men, dressed in olive-green clothing, briefly waved or nodded to assembled onlookers. Shortly thereafter, they were taken to an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) collection point inside Gaza, then escorted out of the Strip.
After meeting with some IDF personnel near the southern border community of Re’im, Bibas spent time with relatives who had been waiting anxiously for news of his condition. His wife, Shiri, and their two young sons, Ariel (5) and Kfir (2), remain in Hamas captivity.
Israeli authorities have repeatedly expressed “grave concerns” over the fate of Bibas’s family, noting that Hamas has claimed they were killed in captivity—an assertion Israel has not verified. Bibas, who appeared to be in reasonably stable condition, will be transferred by helicopter to a central Israeli hospital for further medical evaluation and to meet additional family members and friends.
Calderon, who was abducted alongside his children, Erez and Sahar, in October 2023, was also seen briefly greeting IDF personnel and medical staff before being airlifted by an Israeli Air Force helicopter to a hospital, where his family awaits. His children were released in an earlier phase of hostage releases, and the reunion of Calderon with his loved ones marks another step in a prolonged saga of separation and fear.