Hamas freed two hostages on Saturday in exchange for more than 600 Palestinian prisoners as part of the fragile ceasefire agreement with Israel.

The men were identified as Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 39. Video footage showed the two men looking frail and scared as they were taken to a stage in front of a crowd while flanked by masked gunmen. They were handed over to the Red Cross and were on their way to IDF forces. 

An additional four hostages – Omer Wenkert, 23; Omer Shem Tov, 22; Hisham Al-Sayed, 36; and Eliya Cohen, 27 – were expected to also be released later Saturday. 

Two of the hostages — Mengistu and Al-Sayed — are civilians who have been held since entering Gaza on their own more than a decade ago, long before the war sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, which prompted military retaliation from Israeli forces.

This comes as the delicate ceasefire deal reached a month ago remains in place despite recent revelations that hostage Shiri Bibas’ body was not initially returned to Israel as promised by Hamas.

Red Cross vehicles arrive to collect coffins containing four bodies that were handed over by Hamas militants in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)

Hamas said it “has no interest in withholding any bodies in its possession.” The terror group said the dead hostages handed over on Thursday had been killed by an Israeli airstrike in November 2023 and that the bodies could have been misidentified due to bombardments in the area.

A poster shows Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped to Gaza with her husband and two young sons on Oct. 7, 2023, in Jerusalem, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP)

The terror group also killed Ariel and Kfir Bibas “with their bare hands,” according to the Israeli military, which did not offer evidence to support the claim.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari alleged that forensic analysis of the Bibas boys’ bodies showed that Hamas “did not shoot the boys,” but “killed them with their bare hands” and then “committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.” Hagari said Lifshitz was killed by captors inside Gaza.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.