Chaotic scenes as Hamas releases eight more hostages following Gaza truce
Khan Younis, Gaza Strip: Hamas-led militants have freed eight more hostages in the latest release since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month.
The release on Thursday was delayed by a chaotic scene in which a crowd of Palestinians surrounded and jeered at hostages as they were turned over to the Red Cross.
Arbel Yehoud, who had been held hostage since October 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters to be handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, Gaza.Credit: AP
Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners after a brief delay to protest the chaos with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that mediators guaranteed safe passage for all hostages released in the future.
Netanyahu later said that he had received that commitment and a line of white buses carrying the Palestinian prisoners was seen leaving Ofer prison in the West Bank a few hours later.
The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas.
The first hostage, female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, was released in northern Gaza. Hours later, thousands of people pressed around a handover site in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, in front of the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Israeli hostage Agam Berger, prior to her release by Hamas militants, as part of a prisoner exchange in Jabalia camp, northern Gaza.Credit: Bloomberg
Footage showed Arbel Yehoud, a 29-year-old hostage, looking stunned as she was led through the crowd by militants as Red Cross vehicles waited.
Hundreds of militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group arrived with a convoy in a show of force, and thousands of people gathered to watch, some from the tilted rooftops of bombed-out buildings. Many in the crowd shouted and surrounded Yehoud as masked militants pushed people away and escorted her through.
Crowds surround Red Cross cars as they arrive to collect the hostages.Credit: AP
Red Cross vehicles were then delayed as they tried to drive away. The Israeli military later said the hostages had been transferred to Israeli forces inside Gaza.
The third Israeli released was 80-year-old man Gadi Moses. Five Thai nationals were freed, but were not officially identified. Among the hostages taken from southern Israel on October 7, 2023, there were 22 Thai farmworkers.
Gadi Moses, 80, centre right, is escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters.Credit: AP
Hamas had earlier handed Berger, 20, to the Red Cross after parading her in front of a crowd in the heavily destroyed urban refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza. The Israeli government later released footage of Berger hugging and crying with her parents.
Berger was among five female soldiers abducted in the Hamas attack that precipitated the latest war. The other four were released on Saturday.
People cheered, clapped and whistled at a square in Tel Aviv where supporters of the hostages watched Berger’s handover on big screens next to a large clock that’s counted the days since the hostages were taken.
People react as they watch broadcast of the release of Israeli soldier Agam Berger, one of the eight hostages freed on Thursday.Credit: AP
Of the people released from prisons in Israel, 30 were serving life sentences after being convicted of attacks against Israelis. Zakaria Zubeidi, a prominent former militant leader and theatre director who took part in a dramatic jailbreak in 2021 before being rearrested days later, was believed to be among those released.
As part of the ceasefire deal, on Monday Israel began allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, the most heavily destroyed part of the territory. Many found only mounds of rubble where their homes had been.
Freed Thai hostages, from left to right, Surasak Rumnao, Sathian Suwannakham, Bannawat Saethao, Watchara Sriaoun, and Pongsak Thaenna hold the Thai flag in Israel.Credit: Thai Embassy via AP
In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is set to release a total of 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children, older adults and sick or wounded men, in exchange for nearly 2000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says Hamas had confirmed that eight of the hostages to be released in this phase were dead.
The next stage is meant to include agreements on a permanent end to the war and on the release of all remaining hostages – males under 50, including soldiers – in return for more Palestinian prisoners.
The war could resume in early March if a permanent ceasefire is not reached.
Hamas says it won’t release the remaining hostages without an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
The war started when Hamas sent thousands of fighters into Israel, killing some 1200 people and abducting about 250 others.
The Israeli offensive has transformed entire neighbourhoods into mounds of grey rubble, and it’s unclear how or when anything will be rebuilt. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and around 90 per cent of Gaza’s population has been displaced.
AP