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00:00Well, first, the scenes were much less chaotic, but arguably more choreographed, if not staged,
00:15than last weekend's hostage release.
00:17Carrying Hamas-branded gift bags, waving and smiling on stage before cheering crowds, the
00:22four female Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariyev, Daniela Gilboa, Nama Levy, and Liri Albag,
00:28were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday morning.
00:32You can see them in those pictures, being reunited with their family members that came
00:36after they were transferred to southern Israel.
00:39Now, one of those freed hostages, Liri Albag, expressed her gratitude to Israelis and to
00:44the military for their support.
00:46Take a listen.
00:47All the citizens of the state of Israel who supported our families and immersed them,
00:53and all the IDF soldiers who did everything for us, thank you very much.
00:57I love you all.
00:58Well, for more, we're going to cross now to France 24's Mark Owen, who is standing by
01:03at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, and he's been speaking to Israeli-Canadian filmmaker Yoni
01:09Collins.
01:10Over to you, Mark.
01:11Erin, thank you very much.
01:13There was something of a setup in how Hamas carried out the handover today.
01:20I think that was very clear, but I'll just step back and let you meet some of the people
01:24who used to do the same kind of job as the four girls concerned.
01:27And it means a lot to these people here who've been campaigning tirelessly to get them back.
01:31They're incredibly happy that their colleagues, that's how they look at it, their friends
01:36are free.
01:37And Yoni, the man in question, is a former IDF soldier, now a filmmaker.
01:42Thanks for getting the gang together to talk to us.
01:45This is a moment of relief for you all, but nonetheless, there is a kind of bitterness
01:50about it all, I imagine, because there are still people who were captive.
01:54Absolutely.
01:55There was still one of the female observers who was captive, Agam Berrio.
01:58There were seven kidnapped.
02:00One was rescued alive in October 2023.
02:03One, Noa Martiano, was murdered in captivity, and her body was recovered by the IDF.
02:07And we got four back today, Daniela, Karina, Liri, and Emma, and we are so, so happy they're
02:12back.
02:13We've been fighting so hard to get them home, advocating for them nonstop, but Agam is still
02:17there, and there's 90 hostages in total still there, and we can't stop until Agam and every
02:21single hostage is back.
02:23So it continues, the campaign to bring those hostages back.
02:28What would your message be to the four women who've been released?
02:31I mean, clearly, they're great to be back with their families, very happy about that,
02:34but I know the message from you all, collectively, is one of big hugs and big love, I imagine.
02:38Yeah, we're so, so happy.
02:40We want to welcome them with love and hugs and everything we can.
02:43They are back in their families' arms, which is all we've wanted to see, and it's just
02:48the greatest feeling in the world.
02:49It's everything we've wanted, is just to see them back home with their families.
02:53On the other side of the equation, of course, there's the Palestinian people.
02:56Now, we could talk about prisoners or we could talk about Hamas, but I'm wondering what your
03:00perspective is about Hamas or Palestinians.
03:04What is the distinction?
03:05Is there a distinction?
03:06Absolutely.
03:07I want to make it clear that this was a hostage-prisoner deal.
03:12We are getting back hostages, they are getting back prisoners who have done serious acts
03:18of terrorism, a lot of them.
03:19Some have blood on their hands, many have blood on their hands.
03:23We want to live in peace.
03:24All of us want to live in peace.
03:26The problem is that Hamas does not, and they control and govern Gaza, and we don't think
03:32we can have peace while Hamas is still in power there.
03:35It's obviously such an imbalance.
03:37It's bittersweet, because we want to live in unity and peace, and we just have enemies
03:41that don't and want to wipe us out instead.
03:43So we've got the toughest situation in the world.
03:47On the one hand, we want this.
03:49We are so happy that our people are home and are coming home, and God willing, they all
03:53will, but this isn't going to be over.
03:55Hamas is still in power, and that's obviously terrifying to us.
03:59And it's terrible for the Israelis and the Palestinians that Hamas is still going to
04:02be in power after this.
04:04Do you think or do you feel confident that the truce deal can continue into a second
04:09phase, third phase?
04:10Do you or do you feel that what we're seeing today in Gaza, in West Bank, may somehow subvert
04:16the whole process?
04:17I don't know.
04:18I'm not political.
04:19I can't speak for whether it'll hold or not, but while it is holding, I'm just so happy
04:24that we're getting people back home where they belong, and I hope it holds.
04:28I hope we can have peace one day.
04:31I hope that Hamas is out of power one day, and I hope that all 90 are back home one day.
04:35Yoli, thank you very much.
04:36I'll just step back so you can appreciate this protest of the observers.
04:41The girls who have been freed, one still, of course, in captive and from Hostage Square
04:46here in Tel Aviv, I'll hand you back to the studio.
04:49Mark Owen in Tel Aviv, Hostage Square, thank you very much to you and to Israeli-Canadian
04:54filmmaker Yoni Collins.