India, Feb. 22 -- Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, released six Israeli hostages from its captivity on Saturday in exchange for 602 prisoners, who will be released from Tel Aviv's custody.

The release is part of phase one ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Five hostages - Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Israeli-Argentine Omer Wenkert, 23, Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38, were handed over to the Red Cross in two separate ceremonies in Gaza on Saturday.

A sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, 37, was later released and taken back to Israeli territory, the military said.

A video of Wenkert's reunion with his parents, posted by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in a post on X, has gone viral online. "For 505 days, ...