TEL AVIV — Hamas militants handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross at Gaza City on Saturday after parading them in front of a crowd. Israel followed with the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The four Israeli soldiers smiled broadly as they waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage at Gaza City’s Palestine Square, militants on either side of them and a crowd of thousands watching before they were led off to waiting Red Cross vehicles.

They were likely acting under duress, with previously released hostages saying they were held in brutal conditions and forced to record propaganda videos.

Israel’s Prison Service later said it had completed the release of 200 Palestinian Arabs. They include 120 who had been serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.

Around 70 were released into Egypt, according to Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV. Egypt had served as a key mediator in the talks that led to the truce.

Thousands of Palestinian Arabs gathered at the West Bank city of Ramallah to celebrate the arrival of buses carrying the prisoners. Many waved Palestinian flags or the flags of different political factions.

As the four Israeli soldiers were released, hundreds of people cheered at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square where they were watching the drama unfold on a big screen television.

“I’m speechless,” said one of the onlookers, Aviv Bercovich. “I had goosebumps watching them. I just want the war to end.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office later released a video showing the freed hostages being welcomed at an Israeli army base. One of them, Liri Albag, smiled, gave two thumbs up and made a heart shape with her hand before getting into a van.

The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Albag, 19, were captured by Hamas during its attack on October 7, 2023.

In exchange, Israel agreed to release 200 prisoners, including 121 who were serving life sentences, according to a list released by Hamas.

The more notorious prisoners being released include Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Qassim, 54, both from eastern Jerusalem.

They were accused of carrying out a series of deadly Hamas attacks against Israelis, including a bombing at a cafeteria at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2002 that killed nine people, including five American citizens.

Of the 70 who were expelled to Egypt, some may eventually go to other countries, with Algeria, Tunisia ,and Turkey all expressing a willingness to take them in, according to the head of a Palestinian prisoner advocacy group, Abdullah al-Zaghari.

The four Israeli soldiers released were taken from Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when Hamas attacked, killing more than 60 soldiers there.

The female abductees had all served in a unit of lookouts charged with monitoring threats along the border. A fifth female soldier in their unit, Agam Berger, 20, was abducted with them but not included in the list.