In the second prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, four female Israeli soldiers and 200 Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the ceasefire deal.
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00:00Heartfelt reunions across Israel and the Palestinian territories,
00:05as hundreds of prisoners are released,
00:08part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
00:12In Gaza, Hamas militants released four female Israeli soldiers
00:16to the International Committee of the Red Cross,
00:19returning to Israel and reuniting with their families
00:23after 477 days in captivity.
00:30I love you, all the citizens of the State of Israel,
00:33who supported our families and embraced them,
00:36and all the IDF soldiers who did everything for us.
00:39Thank you very much. I love you.
00:42In return, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners
00:46to cheering crowds across the West Bank and Gaza.
00:50I am very happy and honored,
00:53but I am also very sad,
00:56but I am also very happy,
00:59because there are still many brothers behind us in captivity.
01:02May God have mercy on the martyrs in Gaza,
01:04and may there be no more wounds in their chains.
01:07But shortly after the exchange,
01:09Israel accused Hamas of reneging on a part of the deal,
01:13and, in retaliation, refused to let Palestinians
01:16cross the border into northern Gaza,
01:19where hundreds are gathered, waiting to return home.
01:23Hamas failed to meet its obligations
01:27to first release Israeli female civilian hostages
01:31as part of the agreement.
01:33The planned exchange was the second
01:35since the ceasefire began on January 19th,
01:38part of a precarious and temporary deal
01:41after 15 months of negotiations.
01:44The next prisoner swap will take place
01:46in another long and tense seven days
01:49as families across borders wait
01:51for those held to come home.
01:53Chris Ma and Harrell Hughes for Taiwan Plus.