this is bbc news. 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 be part of their healing process which is 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.

there have been scenes ofjubilation 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. 0ur correspondent nick beake was in tel aviv where the families are gathered to celebrate the latest release of hostages and explained what might be the reason for the missing hostage. 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 in the west bank, there was chaos, really. just the buses mobbed by those prisoners�* families, their supporters. the prisoners emerged not looking 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, 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 seventh 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. 0ur middle east regional editor

sebastian usher has been monitoring events and gave us his assessment. the palestinian prisoners were being released by now this time last sunday so that is happening much more smoothly and they were sent to different places, some to the occupied west bank and some to gaza, a very small number, and 70 essentially being sent into exile and not allowed back because of the gravity of the crimes that they have been sentenced for by israel, going to egypt and they may go to qatar and algeria and to turkey. the choreography of it was complex. hamas as we were hearing was very keen to put their best foot forward than from their perspective they did. it certainly hasn't had a

good impact on israel. the fact that the four hostages were brought up onto a platform, paraded as of the way that it would be seen, the way that hamas was vaunting its remaining power by having fighters with their guns all around has been greeted by israeli politicians with huge distaste, feeling that this is essentially hamas trying to make some kind of capital out of the release of four young women who have been held for more than 15 months in extremely difficult conditions. i was going to ask about that because we have heard from the families. have we heard much from benjamin netanyahu or his spokesman? irate from benjamin netanyahu or his spokesman?— spokesman? we had ben'amin netanyahu issuing * spokesman? we had benjamin netanyahu issuing statements| spokesman? we had benjamin l netanyahu issuing statements of happiness over what happened. there was a clip of him, a video of about two and a half minutes with the parents of one of the hostages talking to them

and are very much speaking to them in terms of the emotions that he is feeling and that the israeli people are feeling. we had that from all the politicians and even the far right politicians, including the finance minister who were very much opposed to any ceasefire deal at this moment feeling that it is far more important for hamas to be eradicated as mr netanyahu has vowed. and as with last week their sense of pleasure and joy at what has happened but in each case mingled with the sense that they feel that hamas has been making as much as they can out of this and that that is something they find unacceptable and humiliation, one of them describe it as, for israel. now it's time for a look at today's sport.

after a stuttering season so far manchester city have now scored nine goals in their last two league games and are back in the top floor of the english premier league after they came from behind to beat chelsea 3—1 at the etihad stadium. the away side had the lead early on but goals from pep guardiola, erling haaland and phil foden saw them secure victory and move above their opponents. i have my opinions, and a lot of players have been years and years, and they are exceptional in many things but sometimes you have to realise that was not absolutely enough what we were doing and we have to ask ourselves to make a step up and today we did. ourselves to make a step up and today we did-— today we did. manchester city still sit 12 points _ today we did. manchester city still sit 12 points behind - still sit 12 points behind leaders liverpool who have maintained their six—point advantage at the top of the table after beating ipswich 4-1. table after beating ipswich 4—1. second placed arsenal beat

wolves 1—0. nottingham forest were thrashed at bournemouth and wins for newcastle and everton. a big night in european football as paris saint—germain and real madrid are both in action right now. in italy top side napoli have moved six points clear after coming from behind to beat juventus 2—1. no problems for the german front runners as bayern munich move six points clear while second place by leverkusen could only draw 2—2 despite leading 2—0. 0ne leverkusen could only draw 2—2 despite leading 2—0. one other football story to bring to you and that is that manchester united winger anthony has joined real betis on loan until the end of the season despite an £81 million move in august 2022 the brazilian has struggled at old trafford

scoring just 12 goals in 96 appearances. united sources say the deal covers a minimum of 94% of his salary which is over £100,000 per week. just over 12 hours to go until the men's singles final at the australian open as jannik sinner aims to retain his title against alexander zverev. there was not to be a successful defence for last year women's champion sabalenka who was beaten in three sets by madison keys to secure her first grand three sets by madison keys to secure herfirst grand slam title at the age of 29. she says winning her major title has lifted a pretty heavy burden. ., ., has lifted a pretty heavy burden-— has lifted a pretty heavy burden. ., ., ., , burden. to go back to this position — burden. to go back to this position and _ burden. to go back to this position and to _ burden. to go back to this position and to be - burden. to go back to this position and to be able . burden. to go back to this position and to be able to| burden. to go back to this - position and to be able to play the way that i played and finish on such a strong note, i am just really proud of myself and i didn't always believe that i could get back to this point, but to be able to do it

and when, it means the world to me. . ~' . and when, it means the world to me, . " ., ., and when, it means the world to me. a ., ., , me. cricket and a stunning unbeaten _ me. cricket and a stunning unbeaten 72 _ me. cricket and a stunning unbeaten 72 guided - me. cricket and a stunning unbeaten 72 guided india | me. cricket and a stunning| unbeaten 72 guided india to me. cricket and a stunning i unbeaten 72 guided india to a thrilling t20 win against england to go 2—0 up in the five match series. the setting on 166 to win with captainjos buttler top scorer. india lost wickets at regular intervals but they got over the line with two wickets in hand and just four balls remaining. defeat for england's women against australia in adelaide in the ashes series and now the hosts have their sights set on an unprecedented series clean sweep. beth mooney top scored for australia for the third and final t20 making 94 as they set england 163 to win. the innings was higher than england's entire team, bowled out for just 90. england fell to a 72

run defeat, australia lead the multiformat series 12—0 and a victory in next week's test match will ensure a clean sweep across all seven matches. that's all from the bbc sports centre for now. 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. congo's foreign ministry has recalled its diplomats from rwanda asking it to cease its activities and can chess out within 24—hour is. un

peacekeepers have also been involved in the clashes. there are fears of further casualties as fighting continues. the african union has called for a halt to the conflict. translation: we are angry because even _ translation: we are angry because even after- translation: we are angry because even after fleeing . translation: we are angry i because even after fleeing the enemy still wants to consumers. we want weapon so we can defend our country. if we die we will die for our country. police in the netherlands are on hunt for thieves who broke into a museum overnight — allegedly using explosives — and stole priceless ancient artifacts. the drents museum in the city of assen was hit by an explosion at around four in the morning local time. among the items taken were three gold bracelets and the exhibition's centerpiece, the golden helmet of coto—fenesti, which was on loan from the national history museum of romania. local police say there were multiple perpetrators and the heist was well—prepared.

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, 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. elon musk has appeared via video link at an election campaign launch for the far—right afd — alternative for germany party.

he received a raptuous reception from party supporters at the event in halle. the us billionaire has repeatedly voiced support for the afd and its policies — which include significantly tougher immigration controls. germany goes to the polls in federal elections in four weeks' time. 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 10 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. and there is much more on all those stories on the bbc news website and on the bbc news app. i website and on the bbc news a- -. website and on the bbc news a . . _ , website and on the bbc news a- -. , . ~ website and on the bbc news a... , ., ,

hello. storm eowyn has been clearing away northwards, leaving most of us with a better looking day today. certainly calmer than it was yesterday for this weather watcher in fife. a little bit of sunshine overhead as well. something wintry on the ground for this weather watcher in enniskillen. but tomorrow things go downhillagain, particularly across southern and western parts with some wet and windy weather. so yesterday's storm system clearing away northwards. you can see the swirl of cloud on the satellite picture. this little band of cloud is moving eastwards right now, bringing some hefty showers. this shield of cloud is another developing low and that will start to influence our weather from tomorrow. but for the time being, through tonight, this band of hefty showers continues to journey eastwards. some wintriness in the showers across the north, particularly in scotland, where things will also be quite icy and it will be pretty windy for a time across the north west corner of scotland. temperatures widely dropping close to freezing below freezing in places. a little bit milder you'll

notice, though, down to the far southwest ahead of the arrival of this next area of low pressure. now this looks like a pretty deep low, and it has been named not by the uk met office, but by the spanish weather service. it's been named storm herminia for impacts it is going to have in spain, but i suspect it will also have some impact here because tomorrow we will see outbreaks of heavy rain driving northeastwards across england, wales, northern ireland into southern scotland. bit of snow over high ground, northern scotland staying mostly fine but with a few showers. but it is going to be windy for parts of northern ireland, western coast of england and wales down along the south coast as well gusts of 50, 60, 70mph in the most exposed spots, so that could cause some issues and temperatures of four to ten degrees. and instead of clearing through quickly, this area of low pressure isjust going to spin close to the uk as we move out of sunday and on into monday. so for monday itself, we will see further showers or longer spells of rain. some places, particularly say parts of wales, central

and southern england, could have enough rain to give some flooding issues. it's still going to be pretty windy, gales around some exposed coasts and temperatures in many spots around five to nine degrees. stays unsettled through tuesday into wednesday. things then look like they will calm down for the end of the week.

this is bbc news, the headlines... israel has released 200 palestinian prisoners in return for four female soldiers held by hamas in the second exchange of the gaza ceasefire deal. the four israeli soldiers were freed in gaza city in a ceremony tightly controlled by hamas — surrounded by dozens of armed hamas fighters. once back in israel, the women were reunited with their loved ones. the soldiers were captured in the october 7th attack 15 months ago. they were seized from an army base on the border with gaza. israel has accused hamas of breaching the terms of the ceasefire because female civilian hostage arbel yehud was not included in saturday's release — and has delayed the planned return of displaced palestinians to northern gaza. now on bbc news, newscast.