Inside operation to bring Israel's hostages home from Gaza

It all begins with a phone call containing a specific location. Once the details are received, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team sets off in vehicles bearing the humanitarian organization’s insignia, heading into Gaza to retrieve the hostages. Meanwhile, Israeli military and medical personnel are also gathering at various locations, awaiting their return home.

These globally watched hostage releases are the result of months of tense negotiations aimed at ending the war. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251. In the 15 months that followed, more than 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza have died, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, and many more have lost their homes in Israeli bombardments.

Under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that began on January 19, a total of 33 Israeli hostages are to be released and returned to their families in the first six-week phase. In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails will also be released. Any hiccup in the process could result in the hostages remaining captive and a resumption of hostilities.

“This is not just a simple car ride,” said Sarah Davies, a spokesperson for the ICRC. “These operations, which seem simple, are in fact very complex, requiring strict security measures to minimize the risks for those involved.” The ICRC, acting as a neutral intermediary in the handover process, has assembled a team of experts, some of whom have participated in similar operations, although this one is more challenging.

Due to concerns about potentially jeopardizing the security of the operation, the organization cannot publicly discuss certain details. Ms. Davies stated that meticulous planning is essential to ensure the exchange proceeds smoothly. They have mapped out alternative routes to various locations in Gaza, as “the safest route can change at any time.” Their biggest concerns include unexploded ordnance, destroyed infrastructure, and the dangers posed by large crowds with “heightened emotions.” “Our teams are preparing and planning for as many scenarios as possible,” she said. “For us, the most important thing is to be able to safely return anyone who is entrusted to our care back to their homes.”

But it is impossible to plan for every eventuality. “From our past experience, whether it’s here or elsewhere in the world, we know that the logistics and the final details can change at any moment, even while an operation is underway,” Ms. Davies said. Medical personnel and weapons contamination specialists trained in identifying war remnants also travel with the teams. During the operations, ICRC representatives also maintain regular contact with Israeli officials, Hamas, and the mediators.

In previous releases, Hamas had announced the names of the hostages to be released on its Telegram channel in advance, but not the specific handover locations. The first public indication of a location is the appearance of armed and masked members of Hamas’s military wing. “I learned from a person in a kiosk that something was happening at the crossroads, that the Qassam Brigade fighters were marching,” said a local journalist, speaking about the first release in Gaza City earlier this month. Crowds began to gather to watch the fighters parade, and word spread that the first three hostages to be released under the ceasefire agreement would appear there.

“When people realized that this was going to be the place where they were going to hand over the Israeli hostages, people started chanting [in support of the Qassam Brigade and senior Hamas figures],” he said. “They started shouting ‘God is great’—showing how happy they were.” The journalist was also present at a second release the following week at another location in Gaza City, which he described as “more organized.” Fighters had set up a small stage area with tables and chairs, and lined up to separate the hostages from the crowds. White cars with blacked-out windows were used to bring the hostages—four female soldiers—to the area.

In a video released by Hamas’s military wing, the young women were filmed thanking their captors and being presented with gift bags. They were led onto the stage, waved to the cheering crowds, and then handed over to the care of the ICRC. Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou later stated that the choreographed handover “scenes and details” told “a story of the creativity of the resistance, heroism, and reinforced a model of pride and dignity.”

Ms. Davies said that some aspects of the handovers are “out of our control.” “ICRC staff always do their utmost to protect the dignity of those being released, but … it’s important for people to recognize that there are limits to what we can do,” she said. “Our priority remains the safe and successful release and transfer of those in our care.”

The hostages are handed over to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) outside of Gaza. “We are prepared outside of Gaza and in other areas to receive the hostages,” said Colonel Avi Banov, deputy commander of the IDF Medical Corps. “We are always prepared because Hamas doesn’t tell us, ‘OK, we’re going to release them in this area or that area.’” On the other side of the border, reception points have been set up to receive them. Military and medical personnel, social workers, and the hostages’ families are present.

A former Israeli army medic who was involved in the first return of hostages during the November 2023 ceasefire recalls being at a base near the border, waiting by an ambulance. He was one of several teams on standby in case one of the hostages had a medical emergency. He said there were strict instructions about how to interact with the returnees. “We were told that if you evacuate them, don’t ask them questions, don’t do anything inappropriate, be quiet, and if the hostage asks you something or wants something, of course you will answer and give it to them. But keep a low profile,” he recalled. He said the atmosphere at the base was both excited and tense. “It was a very important mission,” he said.

Col. Banov said the first step upon return is an introduction between the hostages and the medical personnel. The returnees are assigned a doctor, a nurse, and a social worker who “accompany them all the way” until they are transferred to a hospital. Families are advised to give the medical team “a little bit of time” before reunions, to allow the released hostages “to catch their breath and to understand [they] are in a safe place again.”

“We start with vitamins, small amounts of food and drink, and then the families,” said Col. Banov. As part of the “grounding” process, he said, efforts are made to give the released hostages autonomy to make their own decisions, such as asking: “Do you want to shower before or after you see your parents?” He said that most of the first seven hostages released had “some kind of shrapnel injuries” and suffered from malnutrition and metabolic issues. “Their physical condition was not good, and mentally it’s a very complex issue,” he said. He noted that in the coming weeks, the remains of the hostages who died will also arrive and are scheduled to be transferred to forensic labs before funerals in Israel.

After receiving initial treatment at the reception points, the surviving hostages are transferred to hospitals elsewhere in the country, in “specially adapted” helicopters. “We tell them… we are going to go home by helicopter. Then, if you want, we will start talking about what you went through,” said Col. Banov. There, the real recovery process begins.