Hamas hands over Israeli hostages after parading them in front of crowd

Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters are deployed in central Gaza City ahead of the release of the hostages (Abed Hajjar/AP)

Hamas militants handed over four captive female Israeli soldiers to the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday after parading them in front of a crowd.

Israel was set to release 200 Palestinian prisoners or detainees later in the day as part of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.