scenes of celebration in the west bank, as 200 palestinians are released from israeli prisons. that prisoner release came after hamas releaed four female israeli soldiers. it's the second exchange under the gaza ceasefire deal. the four israeli women have been reunited with their families and are being checked by medical teams. their story is seen as inspiring the nation. it is an immense privilege to meet these four brave women and to be part of their healing process, which is actually a part of the healing process of the entire israeli people. but a delay in releasing another israeli hostage has prompted israel to halt the return of gazans to the region's bombed—out north. hello, i'm rich preston. welcome to the programme.

there have been scenes ofjubiliation in israel and the west bank, after four female israeli soldiers held hostage by hamas were released, in exchange for around 200 palestinian prisoners detained by israel. the four women — three of them aged 20 and one of them 19 — were reunited with their parents at a reception point in southern israel. they were then taken by helicopter to hospital for medical assessments. meanwhile, crowds of palestinians turned out in the west bank to welcome two buses carrying detainees released rom two israeli prisons. reports from egypt say 70 of the 200 prisoners have arrived in egypt — from where they'll travel on to neighbouring countries. as part of the ceasefire deal, thousands of gaza residents were supposed to be allowed to return to the north of the strip today. but israel has so far prevented them crossing into the north until a female civilian hostage, arbel yehud, is released. israel says she should have been freed today. hamas says she will be released

next week, and another armed palestinian group, islamichhad, has told the bbc it has given egyptian mediators proof she is still alive. first, this report from our middle east correspondent lucy williamson. in a theatre of war, the theatre of victory. cheering four israeli soldiers escorted by hamas to a specially—built stage. naama, liri, daniela and karina smiling for the cameras after 15 months in captivity, their freedom signed moments before. in tel aviv�*s hostage square, tension broke into joy, then relief. the childhood friends of liri albag watched together as she was freed — a moment imagined many times.

still unreal. when i saw liri's smile, when i saw liri's walking on her two legs, it's everything. it's everything. she's a hero. she's a fighter. and this moment, this couple of minutes, just show me how brave she is. there was joy for those crossing into gaza too today. prisoners released by israel in exchange. from inside the red cross vehicles, theirfirst glimpse of post—war gaza, and the people who still make it home. this man's niece and nephew, running to meet him with their mother. "it's been 20 years," she said. "my brother, my heart." near gaza's coastal road

today, families waited for israeli troops to leave. filmed by our cameraman there, israel doesn't allow outside journalists in to report independently. the promise that gazans could return to homes in the north delayed, as israel accused hamas of breaching the deal by not releasing civilian female hostage, arbel yehud. across the border, 15 months of waiting ended... ..in the relief of hugging a parent, holding a child. their love and thanks, a reminder of 90 hostages still held in gaza. this is, for israel, the start of a long and precarious road home. lucy williamson,

bbc news, tel aviv. the white house has released a statement about the events today and of course, the former presidentjoe biden and the incumbent donald trump have both taken credit for the gaza ceasefire deal. the white house statement earlier on said today the world celebrate as president trump secured the release of formal israeli hostages who were far too long held against their will by hamas. 0ur correspondent nick beake was in hostages square in tel aviv, where the families are gathered to celebrate the latest release of hostages and explained why one of their number did not appear. yes, this is arbel yahud. she's a 29—year—old civilian. and in israel all this week, the media was speculating that she would be released. but last night, when hamas gave this list of four women to be

freed, she was not on it. and a lot of people were asking why, because under this deal, civilians are supposed to be released before soldiers, women before men. so that's how it works. but she wasn't on this list. and so what israel has said today is that hamas, through not releasing her today, is basically in breach of the deal here. and as a consequence, israel has stopped hundreds of thousands of people in gaza from returning to the north, back to their homes. they were expecting to do this today. they were getting ready to make thatjourney. but so far, israel has said they're not able to do that. now, we've heard from a hamas source tonight saying that, in fact, this civilian will be released next weekend and that the militant group has provided to mediators of this ceasefire arrangement a proof of life video. we don't know at this point whether that's enough to satisfy the israeli authorities and that they will say in the coming hours that they will let these

hundreds of thousands of gazans travel north to see what remains of their homes. so that's one thing to watch. and also, still, we're waiting for this list that hamas is due to provide of the remaining 26 hostages in this first phase of the deal. hamas supposed to be saying whether they were alive or dead. we don't know when that will come. and we don't know whether that status, that bleak status, alive or dead will be matched to individuals, to those individual names. so still the waiting for the families here, a lot of whom are here this evening, that goes on. the release of the israeli soldiers today prompted israel, under the gaza ceasefire deal, to release 200 palestinians it's been holding in detention. let's hearfrom one of them — this is rami al—nagar. he was arrested in 2015 and sentenced for membership of islamichhad, which israel and other countries including the uk and us list as a terrorist organisation. translation: to the izz l ad-din al-qassam brigade, not a single captive dreamt of becoming free. and it is the biggest deal in the history of the palestinian nation.

and it is thanks to god, and then to the izz ad—din al-qassam brigade. abdul rahman balush was another of those prisoners released today. he was sentenced for several offences, including possession of firearms, attempted murder, and contact with hostile groups. let's hearfrom his wife and his sister. translation: there is | a feeling of joy and pride on this day of victory. thank god that he has blessed us with this day after a very long wait and many years. it's a feeling of pride. ofjoy, a feeling of victory despite all the pain. a moment when he could have been a martyr, but praise be to god who allowed us to see him. jon donnison was there for the release of those prisoners. pretty chaotic scenes, to be honest.

outside a big sports complex in ramallah, a few miles from the prison where many of those detainees were being held. and when the buses arrived, carrying, well, about 100, 110 prisoners who are going to be returning to their homes there was chaos, really. just the buses mobbed by those prisoners�* families, their supporters. in great shape, a lot of them, to be honest — pretty gaunt, a lot of them with shaven heads, long beards in their grey prison tracksuits, and they were hoisted onto the shoulders of their supporters to huge cheers, really. and you really get a sense of the division of opinion here. i mean, in israel, these men mostly are regarded as terrorists here. as terrorists. here, they are really regarded as heroes for many people. jon, can you tell us a bit more about where these prisoners are going and why? yeah, so 200 in total

were freed today. as i say, roughly 110, 120 are coming back to the west bank or east jerusalem. they're the ones i saw here arriving today. another 70 have already moved to egypt. they've been deported there, and they're going to be transferred to neighbouring countries, including turkey and qatar, and a small number of prisoners, as well, as we saw in lucy's report earlier, arrived back in gaza. now, of those 200 prisoners, 121 were serving life sentences, some of them for multiple murder convictions, murder convictions, attempted murder in israeli courts, some on lesser sentences, some not even charged at all. the youngest prisoner to be freed today was just 16 years old, a 16—year—old boy. and the person who'd served the longest was actually jailed way back in 1986, so he's done some 39 years in prison. how much of a political win is this for hamas? i think it's a win for hamas, especially

here in the west bank. you know, basically, you cannot understate how big an issue prisoners is for palestinians here. almost every family will have a relative who at some time has been detained in an israeli prison. there are thousands of palestinian prisoners. that have been detained in the past 15 months since the war started on october 7th 2023. 1,000 or so more who've been detained from gaza. so those images today, of those prisoners being held aloft on people's shoulders, that is a win for hamas because it enables them to say, "look, we're getting these prisoners out. "we're the only legitimate resistance," as they would call it, "to israel's military occupation." and by comparison, their political rivals in the west bank, fatah, who historically have been much more popular, well, they are seen as basically pretty ineffective.

they've failed to improve people's lives economically. they've failed to end the occupation. and when you look at polling, since the war started in gaza, hamas�*s popularity there has faded with maybe people saying, look, hamas brought all this suffering on the people of gaza. but here in the west bank, it has surged. and those images today, they will see that prestige rise further, i think. that's really interesting, jon. we talked earlier on about the israeli soldiers who were released and how they were taken to hospital for medical checks. you mentioned the apparent condition of some of these palestinian prisoners. what facilities are available for them, for their health care, post—theirtime in israeli prisons? well, obviously there are hospitals, medical facilities in the west bank. actually, at the reception today, when they arrived, there were a lot of ambulances on standby. but everyone i saw coming out of the buses walked out of the buses before they were being hoisted

on their people's shoulders. i didn't see anyone getting medical treatment or certainly not being taken off in an ambulance. it was pretty striking, actually, how unhealthy they looked. even though they were smiling, they were very, very thin, very gaunt in the face. a lot of them looked like they'd lost quite a lot of weight while in prison. and with that shaven heads, which creates a very striking image in itself. that was jon donnison that wasjon donnison the in ramallah. let's speak to scott walker, hostage negotiator and former adviser to the un, and the author of order 0ut of chaos: a kidnap negotiator�*s guide to influence and persuasion. thank you for being with us. we saw the soldiers released earlier on, these four israeli women. they were wearing full length uniforms, making it difficult to ascertain the actual physical health. we understand they are going to medical checks now. what are we able to know about the conditions they would have been

keptin conditions they would have been kept in and the physical condition they will be now? the -h sical condition they will be now? tue: physical conditions condition they will be now? tte: physical conditions would vary, depending on where they would have been kept and they will get medically treated now but usually my spirit of having debriefed many hostages over the years is usually the mental and emotional scars that take a lot longer to heal, as you can imagine. yet for some of them, actually, they survived pretty and go on to live normal lives as a result. usually, they are the ones who have taken control of their mindset and their emotions whilst they have been held in captivity. because they understand the concept around controlling the controllable. they may not be able to control the physical environment but as long as they can keep mentally strong, then that is going to stand them in good stead when they come out. bud

stand them in good stead when they come out.— they come out. and of course, they come out. and of course, the palestinian _ they come out. and of course, the palestinian prisoners, - they come out. and of course, l the palestinian prisoners, many of those who have been released, have been held for much longer than the israeli hostages. what about the conditions they were held in in israeli prisons?— israeli prisons? likewise, that would have — israeli prisons? likewise, that would have been _ israeli prisons? likewise, that would have been varied - israeli prisons? likewise, that would have been varied as - israeli prisons? likewise, that. would have been varied as well. some of them had been held for many, many years. and the whole integration process is going to be different for each of them and they will all have their own unique way of integrating back into theirfamily, own unique way of integrating back into their family, into their community.— back into their family, into their community. this is an incredibly _ their community. this is an incredibly tense _ their community. this is an incredibly tense time - their community. this is an incredibly tense time in - their community. this is an j incredibly tense time in the middle east. i like and a bit of a cliche sometimes and we have tried and failed several agreements before we got to the one we are at now. can you give us a sense of how difficult it is to come to these negotiations and precisely how you go about going through those steps?— you go about going through those ste s? ~ ., , .,, ., those steps? with any hostage or kidnap situation _ those steps? with any hostage or kidnap situation is _ or kidnap situation is challenging and difficult and

if mistakes are made, people can die. at the best of times, when you have gotjust one hostage. but when you put several hundred scattered across a war zone with the world's media and all the proxy actors from different countries or getting involved, it really just becomes the nightmare scenario. but the one thing that has made this happen, which is why we should remain cautiously optimistic, is something which seems counterintuitive and that is trust. something which may appear to be lacking on both sides, which is why third party mediator is like and others have really come into their own -- qatar and egypt, to be the facilitators between both sides here, to sit around the table, to build that trust and seek some form of collaboration, which is always the number one aim in any form of negotiation with the likes of hostages. mr

walker, thank you very much for joining us. six foreign peacekeepers — three malawian and three south african — have been killed in clashes with m—23 rebels in the east of the democratic republic of the congo un peacekeepers have been involved in clashes between the drc�*s army and m23 fighters who are backed by rwanda. there are fears of further casualties as the rebels advance on the city of goma. the african union has called for a halt to the conflict. translation: we are angry because even after fleeing . to goma, the enemy still wants to pursue us. we demand to be given weapons so that we can defend our country. if we die, we would die for our country. police in the netherlands are on hunt for theives who broke into a museum overnight — allegedly using explosives — and stole priceless ancient artifacts. local police say there were multiple perpetrators and the heist was well—prepared.

translation: we are deeply shocked by the events of last| night in our drents museum. in its 170—year existence, such a major incident has never occurred. a number of objects have been stolen, including the masterpiece, the helmet of cotofenesti from the 5th century bc. with me is europe regional editor danny aeberhard. good to see you. what happened? about 3:a5am local time, there was a big explosion at this small museum, the drents museum in the north of neverland and multiple thieves then rushed in through broken windows and stole these four items. these are truly amazing items, as you can see. —— netherlands. that, the helmet of cotofanesti, one of the masterpieces of romanian early art. you all the pain of

the museum director there. he said, it is not about the gold, this is about romania's cultural heritage and that is obviously the prime value of these pieces. so it is really shocking. there has not been any arrests yet. the museum is code for the weekend while police are investigating, they are going through cctv footage and things like that. but it is very dramatic and significant. we could see these images inside the museum and he action there is a bit earlier but tell us more about what we know about what was stolen? three bracelets. _ about what was stolen? three bracelets, gold spiral - bracelets, gold spiral bracelets, gold spiral bracelets, they are from the dacian empire. the dacians lived before the roman conquest, there were fight between the romans and the dacians and they are all bc, those bracelets. the helmet there is almost 2500 years old.

it was founded in 1927. it was actually washed out of the hillside and found by children who played with it for awhile and then apparently, they it as and then apparently, they it as a bowl of water, the animals is that i'm not quite sure how because that top of the helmet had a hole in it, so they obviously plug that up or didn't have a hole in it when they found it. it has very dramatic, high relief eyes which were meant to ward off evil spirits and protect the person who wore it in battle and also mythological beasts, like the sphinx. so it is an aptly world—class item. the bracelets themselves are that much aware use in the roman treasury, they were used for monetary purposes. they have actually been stolen in the past. they were dug up by looters and sold and dispersed around europe and the us debt collectors and the romanian

government, had a huge struggle to try to repatriate these items and in the end had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay compensation to the collectors who bought them not knowing they had been stolen. . , , not knowing they had been stolen. ., , , ., stolen. has there been a resnonse _ stolen. has there been a response from _ stolen. has there been a response from the - stolen. has there been a - response from the remaining government regarding this incident?— government regarding this incident? . ., , incident? there certainly has been. incident? there certainly has been- the — incident? there certainly has been. the president - incident? there certainly has been. the president has - incident? there certainly has| been. the president has been talking with the dutch government already. the romanian ministry of culture has said all possible steps to recover these stolen items, which were on loan to the dutch museum for an exhibition that was actually due to come to an end tomorrow, are being taken and he described them as being some of the most important items of romanian heritage. and the director of the national history museum, that is the place the helmet was capped and normally displayed, said he has called for their safe return, thatis called for their safe return, that is their only hope and they are of such a striking

distinctive is that these items are impossible to sell. the fear, i guess, are impossible to sell. the fear, iguess, is are impossible to sell. the fear, i guess, is that they could even be melted down. danny, thank you very much. pete hegseth has been sworn in as the new us secretary of defence in a ceremony in washington. he took the oath of office hours after being confirmed to the position by the us senate following a tie—breaking vote by vice presidentjd vance. his confirmation was rocked by misconduct allegations and concerns over a lack of experience. speaking at his swearing in, he vowed to put america first. and the three principles i talked about are what we will bring to that pentagon. restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do. in everything that we do, rebuild our military and re—establish deterrence. we don't want to fight wars. we want to deter them, as you said, and we want to end them responsibly. but if we need to fight them, we're going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home. here in the uk, hundreds of thousands of homes

and businesses are still without power, a day after storm eowyn smashed its way across the uk and ireland. the met office has described it as probably the most powerful to hit in at least ten years. eowyn brought winds of more than 100 miles per hour to scotland and the entire island of ireland. at least one man was killed. here's our ireland correspondent, sarah girvin. storm eowyn may be over, but the destruction left in its wake is unprecedented. in the republic of ireland, it was a once in a generation weather event. it claimed the life of 20—year—old kacper dudek, killed in county donegal when a tree fell on his car. around the country, a massive clean up operation is underway, but the repairs are expected to take some time. across the island of ireland, hundreds of thousands of homes are still without power. and while work is ongoing, there is a warning that it

might take up to ten days for everyone to get electricity back. this animal shelter has been left without heating. a lot of our puppies need a lot more care than the older dogs, medications, and wejust... like, this wee one's freezing at the minute. so we'd just be very keen to make sure that those puppies have electric. if not, we might need to consider getting foster homes for them. there are more than 2,000 road obstructions reported at the height of the storm in northern ireland. work is now under way here in belfast and across the country to remove damaged trees like this one. in scotland, damage to properties is still being assessed and storm eowyn has left tens of thousands without power. it was terrifying. it was. it was really bad. but everybody stayed in, stayed safe. travel services also remain severely disrupted. we're actually stranded here now until tomorrow

and hope we can get the train up to aberdeen. so we'll come back in the morning and just see how things are, but it is frustrating. 0h! oh, my god! some weather warnings remain in place for parts of england, scotland, wales and northern ireland. and while it is hoped the worst is over, recovery from storm eowyn is just beginning. sarah girvin, bbc news. ijust want i just want to remind you ijust want to remind you of our top story this hour and the gaza ceasefire deal has seen for israeli female soldiers returned to israel by hamas and 200 palestinian detainees released from israeli prisons. there is a life paid up on the bbc news website and the bbc news app covering all the latest of the story. you 1