live from london, this is bbc news. four female israeli soldiers are released under the gaza ceasefire deal. families of the women celebrated as they watched the handover take place live. meanwhile, around 200 palestinian prisoners have been released in the west bank as part of that same deal. these are the live pictures as huge crowds come out to greet them. hello, i'm nicky schiller. four female israeli soldiers have been freed by hamas in the second hostage—prisoner swap of the gaza ceasefire deal. the israeli military said they've been reunited with their parents at a reception point in southern israel.

gunmen and crowds gathered in palestine square in gaza city as the hostages were released to the red cross in a highly choreographed handover. the soldiers had been held since being abducted from an israeli border base at the start of the october 7th attacks in 2023. a short time later, israel released these pictures showing them being received back by the military. they are now undergoing medical assessment. in exchange, israel is due to free around 200 palestinian prisoners. hamas has told mediators that a female israeli civilian — these are the pictures of them being handed over at the border, received by the israeli troops. hamas has told mediators that a female israeli civilian — arbel yehud — held hostage in the gaza strip — will be released next week.

israel has said she should have been freed today. it's cast some doubt on another stage of the ceasefire. the israeli prime minister's office has said that palestinian civilians will not be permitted to return to northern gaza until she is released. but the release of up to 200 palestinian prisoners has gone ahead as planned as part of the gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. two buses carrying palestinian prisoners have departed from two israel prisons. these are the pictures of those buses arriving. hundreds of gathered. there were celebrations when the prisoners arrived, they fell into the arms of their loved ones and families, many of whom have been waiting in ramallah for hours. our correspondentjohn

donis and said it was a celebration after a period of nervous anticipation. of the 200 prisoners being released, we are expecting around half to arrive in ramallah today. john told us one thing that's very different from last week is that last week, when the first prisoners were released, there was a noticeable show of support for hamas. today, hamas�*s rival, the fatah movement, are out in force, keen to show their backing for the palestinian prisoners. you can see their�*s yellow flags. we've also seen a helicopter landing at an israeli hospital carrying those four hostages who were held by hamas in gaza and have now been returned to israel. you can see the helicopter that landed at the hospital. let's start by getting a round—up of all of today's events so far with middle east correspondent.

another show of force by hamas, its fighters lining up by the ruins in gaza city. with the red cross ready and waiting, the first glimpse of the israeli soldiers after 15 months in captivity, in army uniforms. daniela gilboa, liri elbag, karina ariev and naama levy, all aged 19 and 20 and reportedly in good health. we are relying on footage filmed by local journalists. are relying on footage filmed by localjournalists. among israelis watching in hostages square in tel aviv, there were cheers as events unfolded in palestine square. fist cheers as events unfolded in palestine square.— palestine square. at first si . ht, palestine square. at first sight. it _ palestine square. at first sight, it doesn't -

palestine square. at first i sight, it doesn't necessarily see what is going on. in terms of body and soul.— of body and soul. many are still anxious _ of body and soul. many are still anxious among - of body and soul. many are still anxious among the - of body and soul. many are - still anxious among the crowd. everywhere here, there are signs, reminders of the dozens of israelis still held captive in gaza. it's not clear who is alive and who is dead, and there are worries about whether this fragile ceasefire will hold to free them all. and now, israel is accusing hamas of breaching the terms of the ceasefire deal as it has not released israeli women civilian hostages first. we released israeli women civilian hostages first.— hostages first. we are determined _ hostages first. we are determined to - hostages first. we are determined to return l hostages first. we are i determined to return to hostages first. we are - determined to return to the return of arbel yehud, an israeli citizen kidnapped, and also and other children you we are very concerned about. the exchange _ very concerned about. the

exchange of _ very concerned about. the exchange of hostages began as planned. the prime minister's office is threatening to delay further pull of israeli troops from gaza, with hundreds of displaced palestinians to go back to what is left of their homes in the north, this is another very tense moment. we will talk to yolande live in the next few moments. daniel hagari accused hamas of not abiding by the ceasefire agreement of releasing personnel. since the 7th october massacre, our mission has been clear — bring home all the hostages held by hamas in gaza. today, as part of this ongoing effort, we welcomed home four more israeli hostages after a77 days in hamas captivity.

liri elbag, aged 19. naama levy, age 20. karina ariev, age 20. daniela gilboa, age 24. four idf soldiers who were all abducted by hamas from nahal 0z on october 7th, 2023. today, we salute and embrace them and theirfamilies as they reunite just now after so long. we cannot and will not forget the 90 hostages, including women, children and elderly men still remaining in brutal conditions in hamas captivity. hamas failed to meet its obligations to first release israeli female civilian hostages as part of the agreement. we are determined to the return

of arbel yehud, an israeli citizen kidnapped from nir oz, and also shiri bibas and her two children, kfir and ariel, whose welfare we are extremely concerned about. we appreciate and thank the efforts of all international mediators — united states, qatar and egypt — and we expect them to make sure hamas stands in accordance with the agreement. idf troops will continue to be deployed and operate and to do everything, everything to protect the citizens of israel. our mission is not over until every single hostage comes home. as pa rt of as part of the agreement, 200 palestinian prisoners have been released from israeli jails. we arejust

released from israeli jails. we are just seeing from egyptian media that 70 of those freed palestinian prisoners have arrived in egypt. a large numbers of the others are going to the west bank and our correspondentjohn donnison is in ramallah. describe the scenes, john.— in ramallah. describe the scenes, john. ., , scenes, john. you can see the three prison — scenes, john. you can see the three prison bosses _ scenes, john. you can see the three prison bosses behind i scenes, john. you can see the i three prison bosses behind me. those arrived about 20 minutes ago and pretty chaotic scenes as the prisoners got off. a very large crowd and we saw the prisoners in, with long hair, long beards, —— long beards and shaved heads, a lot of them looked pretty thin. you can see one emerging now, a man in his 40s or 50s, being carried out with a shaven head. the scramble to get to their loved ones, ijust one prisoner coming out on the shoulders of what looked to be his young son

—— and what looked like his young son was hoisted into his arms. the people released today, many of them have been convicted of much more serious offences than the exchange last week, including killian israeli civilians. those convicted of the most serious sentences, around 121 of the 200, they are going to be taken to egypt and deported to countries including qatar and turkey. the people here, about 100 or so, they will be allowed to return to their families, will be allowed to return to theirfamilies, their homes in theirfamilies, their homes in the west bank. many have been in prison for years and it's really a big moment for palestinians here. the prisoner issueis palestinians here. the prisoner issue is a massive one. most families in the west bank will have had a family member or friend who has been held in israeli prison at some point in these images today, it has to be said, hamas will make hay

from them because they will say, "we are the force that is getting prisoners out." described the audience how many palestinian prisoners are held in israeli jails and how many do we expect to be released as part of this hostage release deal? ., ., , ., deal? there are thousands of palestinians _ deal? there are thousands of palestinians held _ deal? there are thousands of palestinians held in - deal? there are thousands of palestinians held in israeli. palestinians held in israeli jails from a whole range of offences. every family probably has a member who at some point has a member who at some point has been in an israeli prison. in the past 15 months, there have been taught much you can just see another prisoner coming out. he is being carried down through the crowd with the palestinian scarf on, the scarf

that yasser arafat was very well known for. those of palestinians have been arrested in the past 15 months across the west bank and also detained from gaza. in this first phase of the deal, the first six—week phase, we are expecting another 1600 palestinian prisoners to be brought out. some more now just emerging. 1600 more to come in the next six weeks including the most high—profile prisoners, those convicted of the most serious offences. we mention that _ the most serious offences. we mention that this is the first phase of the three phases of this ceasefire and prisoner swap deal. what is the mood in the west bank about hopes for all three stages passing off as getting to the end of the process? pa. getting to the end of the process?— getting to the end of the rocess? �* , , process? a few things. there is hu . e process? a few things. there is huge relief _ process? a few things. there is huge relief that _ process? a few things. there is huge relief that there _ process? a few things. there is huge relief that there are - process? a few things. there is

huge relief that there are some j huge relief that there are some sort of ceasefire, albeit perhaps temporary in gaza. there are celebration and relief that these prisoners are coming out today. but overall, there is absolutely zero sense of optimism that this decades long conflict is anywhere near to coming to an end. palestinians here in the west bank feel like they are being squeezed like never before, they have seen a rise in attacks by due settlers in the west bank, they have seen a rise in israeli operations targeting militants in the west bank. just this week in the north of the west bank in jenin, we saw a large military operation which killed at least 13 palestinians, and the past 15 months in the west bank, although overshadowed by the events in gaza, has been the most deadly, the most violent in decades. there is absolutely no real prospect of peace here

and we sometimes hear international political leaders saying the next stage is rebuilding gaza and a two—state solution, palestinian state living side by side with an israeli state, but the truth is there is no optimism that that's coming any time soon. how key is president trump to that future? because there are many commentators who say we wouldn't be where we are today if it hadn't been for president trump. if it hadn't been for president trum -. , if it hadn't been for president trum. , ., trump. there is absolutely no doubt that _ trump. there is absolutely no doubt that president - trump. there is absolutely no doubt that president trump'sl doubt that president trump's arrival back in the white house was the game changer that got this deal done. he said he wanted an end to the war before he took office and he got it the day before he was back in office. president trump is unpredictable. who knows what might happen. hamas actually invited him to go to gaza to see what the situation was like

and they would provide security. i can't see that happening but the thing is, the people he surrounded himself with, people like the man who is likely to be the new israeli us ambassador, mike huckabee, he is a man i heard on the television this past week saying, when asked if there could be a two—state solution, he gave an immediate no. he said, "the palestinians had their chance in gaza and look what happened there." that contradicts, reverses six decades of us diplomatic policy. america has led to the efforts over the decades to get a two—state solution so there is no real optimism that that is no real optimism that that is coming and the real fear here is that president trump and the people around him i going to give a boost to the

settlers, the israelijewish settlers, the israelijewish settlers who are growing in number and want to expand in the west bank, and it's those people who have a brighter 1533