Benjamin Netanyahu slams ‘shocking’ chaos at hostage handover
Israeli and Thai hostages were released in Gaza amid chaotic and ‘shocking’ scenes as Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ordered consequences for Palestinian prisoners. Follow for updates.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed what he described as “shocking scenes” during the handover of eight hostages by Hamas militants.
“I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages. This is yet another proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organisation,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement, after television images showed gunmen struggling to control hundreds of Gazans gathered to witness the handover.
The site of the designated handover was near the family home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
“I demand that the mediators ensure such horrific scenes do not recur and guarantee the safety of our hostages,” Mr Netanyahu added.
“Anyone who dares to harm our hostages will bear full responsibility for their actions.”
Chaos erupted in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis when the hostages were brought for the handover as hundreds of people crowded to witness the event.
Onlookers scrambling to take pictures surrounded the Red Cross vehicles that had come to collect the hostages, media reported.
Israeli Agam Berger was handed over first, followed by seven more: Israelis Gadi Moses and Arbel Yehud, and five Thai nationals.
The television images showed crowds of Gazans taking pictures of Yehud, a civilian woman, as she was brought forward by masked gunmen for the handover.
A visibly distraught Yehud was later seen in a Red Cross vehicle along with Moses.
A statement from the IDF said the hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel.
“The two returning Israeli hostages, Arbel Yehud and Gad Moshe Mozes, will be reunited with their families there” along with five Thai nationals, the IDF said.
The seven returning hostages were accompanied by ISA (Israel Security Agency) forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment.
Hamas earlier handed over female Israeli hostage Agam Berger, a soldier, as a third hostage-prisoner exchange got underway.
Berger, dressed in military fatigues, was paraded by Hamas militants on a stage in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip before she was handed over to International Committee of the Red Cross officials in a markedly quieter scene than the release of the seven other hostages.
Israel’s military said Berger was back in Israel and would undergo “an initial medical assessment”.
Berger’s family said in a statement: “We want to thank the security forces and all the people of Israel for their support and prayers. Now Agam and our family can begin the healing process,” the family said in a statement.
The five Thai nationals freed from captivity by Hamas are in good condition and have been transferred by helicopter to a hospital, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa.
Watch as the Thai hostages return to Israel. We have been waiting for you ðŸŽ—ï¸ pic.twitter.com/SLUMfgkcqW
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) January 30, 2025
“Minister Sa’ar thanked the Thai Foreign Minister for their co-operation and the dialogue with the mediators, which contributed to the release of the foreign hostages,” the Foreign Ministry’s statement added.
The five Thai hostages are farm labourers who moved to Israel, some leaving their families, looking for better jobs: Watchara Sriaoun, Pongsak Tanna, Sathian Suwannakham, Surasak Lamnau, and Bannawat Saethao.
A fourth exchange is scheduled for the weekend, but Hamas accused Israel of jeopardising the deal by holding up aid deliveries.
The ceasefire that began on January 19 hinges on the release of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, in exchange for 1,900 people – mostly Palestinians – in Israeli custody.
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ISRAEL DELAYS PALESTINIAN PRISONER RELEASE OVER ‘SHOCKING’ SCENES
Israel said it will delay the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners because of what Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu called “horrific scenes” at Thursday’s hostage release.
Israel was expected to release 110 Palestinian prisoners on the same day as part of the ongoing ceasefire and hostage deal.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, have ordered the delay in the release of the terrorists scheduled to be released today – until the safe exit of our hostages is guaranteed in the next few days,” Mr Netanyahu’s spokesperson, Omer Dostri, said in a statement.
Mr Dostri said Israel demands that the mediators of the ceasefire deal secure that assurance.
The Hamas Prisoner Media Office said it expected the 110 released to include 30 children, 32 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment and 48 prisoners with high sentences.
ISRAEL CONFIRMS 10 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN WEST BANK STRIKE
Israel’s military confirmed that it had killed 10 Palestinians in a strike on a village in the occupied West Bank, saying it had targeted militants.
During a joint “counterterrorism” operation by the military and domestic security agency, an air force “aircraft struck a gathering of armed terrorists in the area of Tamun”, the military said in a statement.
“Approximately 10 terrorists were eliminated in the strike,” it said, adding two of the militants killed were involved in an attack that claimed the life of an Israeli soldier and injured three others in Tamun on January 20.
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023, which sparked a devastating Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 874 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
HAMAS CONFIRMS DEATH OF MILITARY CHIEF
Hamas confirmed the death of its military chief Mohammed Deif, accused by Israel of being one of the masterminds behind the October 7 attack.
“The Al-Qassam Brigades announce to our great people the martyrdom of a group of distinguished fighters and heroic commanders,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, announced in a video statement, naming “commander Mohammed Deif, chief of staff of the Al-Qassam Brigades (and) commander Marwan Issa, deputy chief of staff” among them.
Israel had accused Deif of being one of the key architects of October 7, along with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed on October 16, 2024.
On August 1 last year, the Israeli military announced it had killed Deif in an air strike in Gaza the month before.
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Originally published as Benjamin Netanyahu slams ‘shocking’ chaos at hostage handover
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