this is bbc news. i'm nicky schiller. we start with the breaking news the middle east. four female israeli soldiers are set to be freed by hamas shortly, as part of the gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal which came into force last sunday. in return, israel will free about 200 palestinian prisoners. the four women were seized from an army base on the border with gaza when hamas attacked israel in october 2023. they are karina ariev, daniella gilboa, naama levy and liri albag who are now 19 and 20. more israeli soldiers are also expected to withdraw from key positions in gaza later today, enabling thousands more palestinians to start returning to what remains of their homes in the north. let me take you to the live pictures from gaza city. the is the central square — palestine square, where we have seen dozen of hamas fighters

gathering. they are flying flags belonging to the group alongside palestinian flags. the fighters are wearing military fatigues and some are carrying guns. you can see in the centre of your screen one of the white vehicles there. we know the international red cross is going to facilitate this hostage handover and we have seen them entering the square. you can see the hamas fighters with their guns alongside those vehicles that have been lined up vehicles that have been lined up to. there have also been a number of civilians you can see that in the area that has been cordoned off by white rope. let's go to our middle east correspondent live in tel aviv. we can see these pictures of the red cross vehicles, just explain what we think the sequence of events will be today. sequence of events will be toda . , ., sequence of events will be toda. , ., .,

today. first of all, those events in _ today. first of all, those events in palestine - today. first of all, those l events in palestine square today. first of all, those - events in palestine square in gaza being broadcast live here as well to hostage square behind me in tel aviv where there is a large crowd of people, supporters of these hostages and their families who have gathered to watch events unfold. what we are expecting imminently is that these four israeli soldiers aged 19 and 20 will be handed over to the red cross. we have been told by hamas that it will be karina ariev, daniella gilboa, naama levy and liri albag that are handed over. they were all part of this observation unit abducted from the edge of gaza on the 7th of october with footage that emerged at the time of that base being overrun by hamas fighters, pictures of these women, blended with their hands being tied up as they were taken away. they were part of what is known as a spotter�*s unit tasked with what was

happening inside gaza. indeed, family members say they sought suspicious activity ahead of the 7th of october and then some of the warnings that they tried to put out, their concerns were repeatedly overruled. there has been a lot of israeli public interest in the welfare of these young women, and people really desperate to get the first glimpse of them. we are expecting after the red cross has brought them out of gaza, then they will be taken to a kibbutz not far away where they will be reunited with their parents. we have already seen a helicopter going though, it is understood that parents will be there waiting. after they have had that reunion and undergone initial checks, the plan is for them to be taken to a hospital not farfrom them to be taken to a hospital not far from tel aviv where they will undergo more medical inspections. they will stay there it is expected probably for several days. there it is expected probably

forseveral days. now, in the hours afterwards, what we should then see as part of this exchange deal, which is at the heart of the gaza ceasefire that has been in place now for nearly one week, we should see something like 200 palestinian prisoners being released from israeli jails handed to the red cross, and some of them will be going back to homes in the occupied west bank, but because of the seriousness of the sentences of others, israel has demanded that they should be sent to live in other countries, they should be going abroad. we are expecting them to go to qatar, egypt and turkey ultimately. these are people that have been convicted of deadly attacks against israelis. 0rso of deadly attacks against israelis. or so of course we have got to remember part of the gaza ceasefire deal that has been taking hold that we have seen this surge in humanitarian assistance going into gaza so desperately needed by people after 15 months of

war where there have been so many obstacles to getting aid in there. israeli forces have also been withdrawing from strategically important parts of the gaza strip. we are expecting to see more of that in the course of the day, particularly from places like the coastal road and from a central corridor with israeli forces have been dividing the north of the gaza strip from the south. you will remember in the south. you will remember in the early stages of the war, the early stages of the war, the people in the north of the gaza strip were told en masse to evacuate to the south for their own safety. we have hundreds of thousands of displaced people there as israeli forces withdraw in the course of the day and in the next couple of days, we are expecting to see many more of those people starting to return to what is left of their homes in the north of the gaza strip. thank you very much for the moment. the pictures we saw on

our screen, you saw two members of what look like the international red cross going up international red cross going up to that desk and looking and signing some documents with what looked like a hamas fighter. they have now come down. you can see the cars, the white cars that are lined up there along with those two members of the international red cross surrounded by what we assume our hamas fighters. i will bring in our middle east analyst, sebastian usher who is with us. sebastian, from these pictures, it is certainly seeming like at the moment that this handover is a lot calmer than what we saw on sunday when it was quite chaotic when those first hostages were released. it is certainly much more tightly staged. as you were saying we have just seen two members of the red cross going up members of the red cross going up onto the diets of the desk with a masked member of hamas.

—— dias. 0ne with a masked member of hamas. —— dias. one of the papers was actually stamped, it is being done as if it was a formal business transacted here. at the moment, we are seeing discussions going on with the hammers members and those two members of the red cross. we have the vehicles lined up facing each other. one assumes, you have the red cross vehicles, you have four other vehicles, you have four other vehicles facing them and one assumes the hostages are in those vehicles. there is a distance of about 20 or 30 yards between them, so one wonders quite how that will be done. will the hostages walk across that area? will the red cross vehicles come close a? but as you say, this is certainly a much more organised event than what we saw last week when there were large numbers of the palestinians who live in gaza city who were gathered and we were able to

come out and essentially be a major part of what was happening. now they are being held behind cordons. sebastian, we can now _ held behind cordons. sebastian, we can now see _ held behind cordons. sebastian, we can now see there _ held behind cordons. sebastian, we can now see there are - held behind cordons. sebastian, we can now see there are some | we can now see there are some women who have been brought out. let'sjust have women who have been brought out. let's just have a listen to the sound that we can hear from there, because there are a lot of people there in palestine square in gaza city, and lots of cameras taking pictures. those women there do seem to be smiling on their faces, but they are being walked, surrounded by those hamas fighters over to the red cross vehicles. you can see that they are having their flags. they are actually now moving them up to the stage. sebastian, this must be a really difficult time for those hostages as they are paraded by

the hamas fighters.— the hamas fighters. well, i mean, there _ the hamas fighters. well, i mean, there must - the hamas fighters. well, i mean, there must be - the hamas fighters. well, i mean, there must be a - the hamas fighters. well, i l mean, there must be a huge amount of emotions that are going through their heads. more than anything is happiness that they are being released and we see that on their faces now. you see that they are all dressed in their army fatigues. they all look in good health it has to be said. they are walking together.- has to be said. they are walking together. yes, so you can see that _ walking together. yes, so you can see that they _ walking together. yes, so you can see that they waved, - walking together. yes, so you can see that they waved, the | can see that they waved, the four hostages who have been released. this is karina ariev, daniella gilboa, naama levy and liri albag. there they are, walking now off the stage. i can see some pictures from tel aviv from hostage square where people are crying and also celebrating this moment in tel aviv. there they are now being

put into those international red cross, and they are being handed over. a moment that has taken 15 months. of course, this is all part of this cease fire deal that came into force on sunday after 15 months of war in gaza. there you can see hostage square in tel aviv on the right—hand side of your square, people celebrating and there you can see the red cross vehicles with the four female soldiers, karina ariev, daniella gilboa, naama levy and liri albag, who have now been handed over to the red cross. they are 19 and 20. three of them are 20 and one aged 19.

they were all stationed at a surveillance post on the edge of gaza. footage at the time showed them tied up and bloodied after their base was overrun by hamas fighters on the 7th of october 2023, that of course triggered the 15 months of war that we have seen. let me bring in our gaza correspondent who is in cairo. we are seeing similar but slightly more calm and organised at the handover today of these four hostages.— of these four hostages. working ve of these fo