Israel-Hamas ceasefire live updates: American hostage released by Hamas

American Israeli hostage Keith Siegel has crossed into Israeli territory, according to the Israeli military.

Siegel was released by Hamas earlier today and taken from the Port of Gaza by the Red Cross, who later transferred him to Israeli custody.

“A short while ago, the returning civilian hostage, Keith Siegel, crossed the border into Israeli territory,” the IDF and IAF said in an announcement. “He is currently on his way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where he will be reunited with members of his family.”

The IDF said that Yarden Bibas, who was released earlier today by Hamas in a separate handover, is on his way to a hospital in an IAF helicopter with members of his family.

Hamas has confirmed the release of three Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement that will see Palestinian prisoners released by Israel.

In a statement citing today’s exchange, which Hamas said was an expression of “its principled commitment to the terms of the agreement,” the group called on Israel to fulfil its side of the deal, and release an expected 180 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Hamas also said it had provided “the necessary care” for 65-year-old Israeli American hostage Keith Siegel, who it said “suffers from multiple diseases.”

Hamas said “the good physical condition” of the hostages in its custody, showed “its moral commitment towards the prisoners,” accusing Israel of abusing Palestinians in its custody. Israel, the Hamas statement said, “commits the most heinous violations against our prisoners.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has celebrated the release of Ofer Kalderon, Yarden Bibas and Keith Siegel, after they were released by Hamas today.

“Their release today brings a ray of light in the darkness, offering hope and demonstrating the triumph of the human spirit,” the organization said in a statement.

“Yet their return also reminds us that 79 hostages remain in Gaza, still waiting to be saved. We will not rest until every phase of this deal is completed and every hostage is returned — the living to reunite with their loved ones, and the deceased for proper burial with dignity.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​”

Carpenter and father of four, Ofer Kalderon, 54, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led October 7 attack.

His children, Sahar, 16, and Erez, 12, were also taken but freed in November 2023 during the first hostage deal. His former wife, Hadas, and older son, Rotem, 19, survived. His eldest daughter, Gaya, 21, was in Tel Aviv.

In a video, Erez — who has since celebrated his bar mitzvah — recalled escaping by jumping out a window.

“I jumped first. He said not to look sideways, just to run,” Erez said. Captured by a terrorist, he saw his father being beaten. “That was the last time I saw him,” he said.

Five months ago, Gaya told i24: “I hope you are dreaming at night of being with us, because it is going to happen soon… just stay strong.”

Ofer Kalderon has taken off in an Israeli Air Force helicopter and will travel to a hospital where he will reunite with his family and receive medical treatment, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Kalderon, a 54-year-old carpenter and father of four, was released by Hamas earlier today and handed over to the Red Cross in the city of Khan Younis. He is expected to arrive in Sheba hospital in Israel, which also received the first three female hostages released two weeks ago.

He was released alongside Yarden Bibas, who the IDF said was due to take off shortly to fly to the hospital.

The first group of ill and wounded Palestinians in Gaza are set to to travel via the Rafah border crossing into Egypt today, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the announcement on X, saying that 50 patients would be medically evacuated from Gaza.

“This will be the first medical evacuation since the cease-fire began” he said, noting that 12,000 to 14,000 people still require urgent specialized medical care outside Gaza.

The Red Cross says it has received a hostage and are on their way to meet the Israeli military inside the Gaza Strip, according to an announcement by the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Air Force.

Keith Siegel left the Port of Gaza just moments ago in a Red Cross vehicle after he was released by Hamas.

Triumphal music, columns of armed masked men and a crowd of young men filming on their smartphones greeted Red Cross officials arrived in Gaza City to pick up Keith Siegel today.

As with previous exchanges, an unmasked Siegel walked across a stage and received a goodie bag from a masked man after the to Red Cross workers — a man and a woman in red vests — signed documents.

Unlike Thursday’s exchange where some hostages were dragged through dozens of armed, shouting men, the scene was orderly.

Previous chaotic scenes angered many in Israel, and prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

People gathered at “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv this morning to watch a live broadcast of the release of Ofir Kalderon and Yarden Bibas from Hamas captivity in Khan Younis.

Israeli American hostage Keith Siegel was paraded on stage to a cheering crowd in the Port of Gaza ahead of his release back to Israel today.

Siegel walked onto stage with a Hamas fighter, waved to the crowd, before he was led to a Red Cross vehicle that will transfer him into Israeli custody.

A member of the Red Cross was invited on stage to sign a document alongside a Hamas soldier ahead of the expected release of Israeli American hostage Keith Siegel.

The Red Cross vehicles have arrived at the Port of Gaza where Hamas are expected to handover Israeli American hostage Keith Siegel.

As with other releases, Hamas fighters surround a stage with Palestinians flags set up by the sea.

Aviva Siegel and her son Shay are on the way to meet husband and father Keith Siegel, the last of the hostages expected to be handed over today. 

Two other hostages, Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas, were handed over earlier in the city of Khan Younis.

“The big day has come Shirkush,” Siegel says in a video posted on her daughter Shir’s Instagram account. “Yes! I’m happy, happy, so happy! There’s no one happier than me! I’m ready with all my things. Let’s go.”

Video shows the moments Hamas handed over Kalderon, the first Israeli hostage released in the latest exchange.

Kalderon, surrounded by masked and armed soldiers, is seen in the video walking up onto a stage in Khan Younis. He holds a sheet of paper and waves to the crowd.

A total of 183 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are expected to be released today, according to the Hamas Office of Martyrs, Prisoners and Wounded.

The prisoners include 18 with life sentences, 54 with high sentences and life sentences and 111 from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after the Oct. 7 attacks, the office said.

It was not immediately clear why nearly 200 prisoners were to be released in exchange for the three hostages.

According to the terms of the deal, 30 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be released from Israeli custody in exchange for each civilian hostage.

They are expected to handover Israeli American Keith Siegel, after two other hostages, Ofer Kalderon and Yarden Bibas, were handed over earlier in the city of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Kalderon and Bibas have arrived at an initial reception point in southern Israel, the IDF said in a statement.

Their families are waiting to reunite with them at the hospital, it said.

With the release of Yarden Bibas, questions remain over the fate of his wife and two young children who were also taken hostage on Oct. 7.

Hamas has said that his wife, Shiri Bibas, and two sons, Ariel and Kfir, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023. The Bibas family has held onto hope that they are alive and will also be released as part of the ceasefire hostage exchange.

Ariel was 5 and Kfir was just shy of 9-months-old when they were taken hostage along with their parents.

In a choregraphed handover streamed on live TV, masked and uniformed Hamas militants paraded two hostages across a stage set up in Khan Younis.

The orderly exchange with the Red Cross contrasted with Thursday’s chaotic handover.

The IDF said two of the hostages expected to be turned over today are on their way back to Israeli territory.

The two — Bibas and Kalderon — will undergo a medical assessment, the IDF said.

“The IDF is prepared to receive an additional hostage in the near future,” it said. Siegel is expected to be the third hostage to be released today.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the families of the two men have been told they “have joined our forces.”

“The government, together with all security agencies, will accompany them and their families,” the office said.

The Israel Defense Forces said it has received information from the Red Cross that two hostages were transferred to them and are on their way to IDF forces in the Gaza Strip.

Video broadcast by Sky News showed two of the hostages — Kalderon and Bibas — coming out to a platform and a handover in Khan Younis.

Several Red Cross vehicles were seen leaving the handover

Siegel was not at the Khan Younis ceremony and it was not immediately clear whether he was at a separate handover ceremony in Gaza City.

Hamas handed over Israeli hostages Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon to the Red Cross in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Saturday, live TV footage showed. 

American Israeli Keith Siegel is among the hostages set to be released Saturday, Hamas said in a statement Friday, as part of the fourth hostage-prisoner exchange with Israel.

Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon will also be released, according to Hamas’ statement.

Siegel, 65, was last seen in a video released by Hamas in April, where he spoke directly to his family to say he was doing OK. Originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Siegel was taken from kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that saw some 250 people kidnapped and about 1,200 killed.

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