Four female Israeli soldiers held hostage by Hamas have returned to Israel after militants paraded them in front of a crowd of thousands in Gaza City.

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 exchange is part of a deal between Israel and Hamas that will see a total of 33 hostages returned to Israel in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Hamas freed four female Israeli hostages on Saturday, in the second round of a deal between Israel and Hamas which also saw about 200 Palestinian prisoners released.

TEL AVIV/CAIRO (Reuters) -Israel approved a ceasefire deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday that involves releasing hostages in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli forces carried out new attacks in the enclave before the agreement's scheduled start on Sunday.

Israel and Hamas were expected to swap more hostages for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, the second such exchange since a ceasefire began in the Gaza Strip last weekend and another test for the deal.

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

Steve Witkoff, the U.S.’s new Middle East envoy, has joined Israelis in Tel Aviv who have gathered to watch the hostage releases in what has become known as “Hostage Square,” according to images broadcast on Israeli television.

The release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners as laid out in the Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal had been in doubt after crowds in southern Gaza surrounded hostages who were being freed.

Hamas has released Israeli soldier Agam Berger to the Red Cross in Gaza, marking the first of eight hostages set to be freed as part of an ongoing ceasefire between Israel and the group. Berger, 20, was among five female soldiers abducted during Hamas ' October 7 attack, with the others freed days earlier.

Militants in the Gaza Strip released eight hostages on Thursday, handing them over to the Red Cross amid chaotic crowds as part of a swap that is set to see 110 Palestinians released from Israeli