in the last few hours, 200 palestinian inmates have been released from israeli prisons. four female israeli soldiers were released by hamas. this has been the second exchange under the gaza ceasefire deal. the four hostages have reunited with their families. the women had been seized from an army base on the border with gaza when hamas attacked 15 months ago. and nick live in tel aviv at the place they call hostage square where our day they have been watching and absorbing everything that has been happening. —— all day. hello, i'm luxmy gopal. four female israeli soldiers freed by hamas have beeen reunited with their parents at a reception point

in southern israel. they were taken by helicopter to a hospital and are now undergoing medical assessment. in exchange, israel has freed around 200 palestinian prisoners. two buses carrying detainees departed from two israel prisons. reports from egypt say 70 palestinian prisoners have now arrived in egypt from where they'll travel on to neighbouring countries. meanwhile hamas has told mediators that a female israeli civilian, arbel yehud, held hostage in the gaza strip, will be released next week. israel says she should have been freed today. in the last half hour, islamichhad has told the bbc it has given egyptian mediators proof arbel yehud is still alive. if confirmed, this would clear the way for thousands of gaza residents to return to the north of the strip today. the israeli prime minister's office had said palestinian civilians won't be permitted to return to northern gaza

until she is released. in a moment, we'll hear from our correspondents across the region. but first, here's this report from our middle east correspondent, yolande knell. another show of force by hamas, its fighters lining up among the ruins in gaza city. whistling, applause. and then, with the red cross ready and waiting, the first glimpse of the israeli soldiers after 15 months in captivity... ..in army uniforms. karina ariev, daniella gilboa, naama levy, all aged 20, and liri albag, now aged 19. all four apparently in good physical health. with foreign reporters currently unable to enter gaza, we're relying on footage filmed by local journalists. and among israelis watching in hostage square in tel aviv,

there were cheers, as events in gaza's palestine square unfolded. the body language is positive. i must say, what seems at first sight a good appearance does not necessarily say what's going on inside, inside the body, inside the soul. among the crowd, many are still anxious. everywhere here, there are signs, reminders of the dozens of israelis still held captive in gaza. it's not clear who's alive and who's dead. and there are worries, too, 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's not released israeli women civilian hostages first. we are determined to return, 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. israel's promised release of some 200 palestinian prisoners in exchange for its hostages did begin as planned. the prime minister's office is threatening to delay a further pull—out of israeli troops from gaza. with hundreds of displaced palestinians waiting for the green light to go back to what's left of their homes in the north, this is another very tense moment. you'll land now there. —— yolande knell there. in the last fews hour, hagar mizrahi, head of the medical division at the israeli ministry of health, gave this update on the status of the four returned hostages. about one hour ago, the four captives arrived at the rabin medical centre, all of us awaited at the arrival excited

and gratefulfor the privledge to be able to witness their return home. the preparation for receiving them, as well as all of those returning, include establishing a broad professional and sensitive medical and mental health framework. over the last year, we meticulously planned for the reception, treatment in the hospitals and the ongoing care at the community, drawing on lessons learned from previous events. today, we are meeting them after a77 days in hamas captivity. this is an unimaginable reality. we, the medical teams in the health care systems, stand ready to address any medical needs that may arise. let's cross live to tel aviv and speak to our middle east correspondent nick beake.

nick, i imagine there are scenes notjust of celebration but feelings of apprehension as well. i want to bring you something that yolande knell has said. she has heard from someone at the israeli hostages and missing hostages for that this may be the last chance for hostages. i this may be the last chance for hostaues. ~ , ., ., hostages. i think you are absolutely _ hostages. i think you are absolutely right. - hostages. i think you are absolutely right. there i hostages. i think you are i absolutely right. there are extreme emotions on display here today and the last 15 months. this places the focus for many families and friends of hostages and israelis who want to gather and show their support here. there have been weekly rallies here and later on there will be other events. earlier on people gathered to watch the screen and there was a joyful moment when they saw before hostages being released. people could take that in and absorbed it here before their very eyes. among this year and represented ourfamily

very eyes. among this year and represented our family and friends of some of the other hostages —— among those here. for them it is a worrying time because we know it is a fragile ceasefire and so far it is holding. this we can's exchange has gone to plan with a slight caveat and it did last weekend as well. bradley it is going on the right direction but some people are concerned about what could happen in the days to come. —— bradley it is going... it was widely expected that one civilian would be released on the government here is saying that hamas have not kept their side of the bargain and as a consequence hundreds of thousands of gazans are not able to go back to their homes in the north because of this. so we are having conflicting emotions here but this has been, for a lot of people, joyful so far. been, for a lot of people, joyful so far-— joyful so far. what is the latest from _ joyful so far. what is the latest from the - joyful so far. what is the latest from the israeli i latest from the israeli government on the impasse you mention? we have heard that

proof of life has been given which was to lead to the hope that palestinians could continue into northern gaza. what is the latest from the israeli government on the? the latest officially _ israeli government on the? tue: latest officially from the israeli government is the statement we had a few hours ago which all relates to the fate of arbel yehud. the group which is holding her is islamic jihad said that she was part of the israeli military and there is no proof of that. she was working at a particular place in the south as a guide, a centre dedicated to technology and space. that was the role she was doing but what we heard in the past half an hour from our sources is that this group has sent proof of life and she is still alive. i think what we

are seeing from both hamas and other groups is that they want to put israel in a position where they say yes, this is satisfactory for us and so as a consequence, those hundreds of thousands of gazans can begin theirjourney home. but it is unclear at the moment with the current israeli government thinking is and whether they will give the green light to white, of course, would be a huge movement of people. [30 white, of course, would be a huge movement of people. do you have a sense _ huge movement of people. do you have a sense of _ huge movement of people. do you have a sense of how— huge movement of people. do you have a sense of how the _ have a sense of how the developments today have affected public support for the prime minister benjamin netanyahu? t prime minister ben'amin netanyahu?�* prime minister ben'amin netan ahu? ~ , netanyahu? i think in broad terms, netanyahu? i think in broad terms. people _ netanyahu? i think in broad terms, people will- netanyahu? i think in broad terms, people will be - netanyahu? i think in broadl terms, people will be feeling the same as yesterday because we know there are some fiery members of the government who are completely against this idea of an exchange —— far right members. others are very supportive and a lot of the families will tell you that they should have happened months ago and the government should have prioritised this more and they are disappointed it didn't happen soon enough. so people are pretty in their

opinions but this is a fragile peace deal and what happens in the days and weeks to come is not at all clear that rather precarious. not at all clear that rather precarious-— not at all clear that rather precarious. not at all clear that rather recarious. ., ~ , ., a precarious. thank you. nick in tel aviv- _ a large number of palestinian prisoners have also begun arriving in ramallah in the west bank. our correspondentjon donnison was there as the buses arrived and sent this update. well, you can see the three prison buses behind me. about 20 minutes ago, those buses arrived and frankly, pretty chaotic scenes as the prisoners got off a very large crowd and we saw the prisoners in their grey prison fatigues, many of them with shaved heads, long beards, a lot of them looking pretty thin. that has to be said. hoisted onto the shoulders, carried into the sports complex. behind me you can just see one now emerging there. a man in his 40s, i'd say, maybe his 50s, being carried out with a shaven head. and when they arrived, the scramble to get

to their loved ones... i just saw one prisoner coming out on the shoulders, and what looked to be his young son was hoisted up and put into his arms. now, the big difference in this prisoner exchange this week compared to last week is the people released today, many of them had been convicted of much more serious offences, including murder, killing israeli civilians. a now, those convicted of the most serious offences, and i think there were 121 of the 200 serving life—sentences, they're going to be taken to egypt, as you say. they're there already, and they're going to be deported to countries including qatar and turkey. so the people here, and i think there's about 100 or so who've been brought here today, they will be allowed to return to their families, their homes in the west bank. many of them have been in prison for years. and it's really a big moment for palestinians here. the prisoner issue is a massive one. most families in the west bank will have had a family member or a friend who's been held in

israeli prison at some point. and these images today, it has to be said, hamas will make hay from them because they'll say, look, we are the force that is getting our prisoners out. reporting from ramallah in the occupied west bank. as we've mentioned, 70 palestinian prisoners, including some of the most serious offenders have been deported. they've now arrived in egypt before travelling on to other neighbouring countries. we can go to cairo now and speak to our gaza correspondent, rushdi abualouf. i want to ask you about something the red cross has released according to reuters in the last few minutes. they said that the red cross has carried out pre—interviews with 200 people held in israeli detention centres to assess their health. what do we know about the health and condition of the palestinians released today? element they are

supposed to be checked out somewhere in cairo as they arrived. ~ , ., ., arrived. we understand that the eu tians arrived. we understand that the egyptians are — arrived. we understand that the egyptians are working _ arrived. we understand that the egyptians are working to - arrived. we understand that the egyptians are working to try - arrived. we understand that the egyptians are working to try to l egyptians are working to try to make a medical checkup. and gaza, there is a facility in the european hospital which is the european hospital which is the closest one to the southern crossing where alison prisoners will be released, 16 —— where gazan prisoners will be released... the palestinian authority in ramallah should do thisjob for them and authority in ramallah should do this job for them and they should understand that there are imbalances... check the health condition. the problem in place today and preventing hundreds of thousands of people to return to the north and it is on its way to being solved. we have exclusive information from the mediators that they

have received a video of proof of life from islamicjihad who is holding the israeli civilian hostage that israel demand her release. they have got proof of life for her now they are working with the mediators to ensure that hundreds of thousands of people will go back to the north tomorrow. there is a technical issue with qatari and an egyptian teams in gaza now. they will be doing a search for the road that people will take tomorrow to make sure... not left behind and pave the way for the people to work smoothly and collect some buddies who are killed or dead in the streets. so it is a big job overnight for the technical team by qatar and egypt to make

sure that the road is safe for people to go back. in the end, they are waiting for final approvalfrom they are waiting for final approval from the israelis that people will be allowed to go back today. today we have seen a very chaotic scene where people are trying to approach the israeli checkpoint some injured, one in very critical condition. hamas police unit trying to stop people from reaching close to the israeli checkpoint. people are supposed to go into that direction and who goes in a car has to go down a certain road and people walking are only allowed to work through the coastal road. tenants will be moved, with john from the coastal road overnight to allow people to go back —— withdrawn from the

coastal road. back -- withdrawn from the coastal road.— back -- withdrawn from the coastal road. thank you. you can see the _ coastal road. thank you. you can see the pictures - coastal road. thank you. you can see the pictures of- coastal road. thank you. you can see the pictures of the i can see the pictures of the live scenes in wadi with people hoping that they can pass through and continue on their way due to the work of the mediators some point soon. i must point out that as we heard from our correspondent in tel aviv, nick, the israeli government hasn't released any updated information are given a statement in the last few hours. they are insisting on the release of that civilian hostage while the mediators have said that proof of life has been released so a bit of an impasse there at the moment. let's get more analysis now in the situation. for more analysis, i'm joined now by our middle east regional editor sebastian usher. some issues they reflect how delicate the ceasefire potentially is. delicate the ceasefire otentiall is. ~ , ., potentially is. absolutely and i think all sides _ potentially is. absolutely and i think all sides will _

potentially is. absolutely and i think all sides will be - i think all sides will be thankful that both today and last week has gone relatively smoothly. i think from the israeli side, both the government and many israelis will not have been very happy with the images of hamas staging the release of the four hostages but that will be overwhelmed for now by the joy they feel that they have returned any pictures that we have seen of those four young women meeting with the relatives again, i mean, and measured joy as many israelis watching on big screens in the cities. what we have been hearing... it looked like that may be a major stumbling block in the first real issue that there has been since this started, this demand by the israelis that the woman civilian would be released, arbel yehud, who the israelis were hoping woul