Israel and Hamas exchanged on Thursday a new group of hostages and prisoners in a transfer that turned into chaos while armed activists had trouble controlling a crowd of songs and jostling the crowd of Palestinians trying to See an overview of the Israelis detained in captivity for 15 months of war.
Hamas has published a total of eight Israeli and Thai hostages in the Gaza Strip, including the closely choreographed transfer of an Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, 20, in the northern city of Jabaliya.
But the tumult surrounding the release of two other Israeli hostages – Arbel Yehud, 29, and Gadi Moses, 80, in the city of Khan Younis – exasperated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Israel. This led his office to announce that he had suspended the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners called under the truce negotiated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
The episode briefly questioned if the prisoner’s release would occur at all.
Mr. Netanyahu castigated the “shocking scenes” of shouting crowds and jostling to get closer to an Mrs. Yehud with a scary air and a sinister Moses. “This is additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organization,” said Israeli Prime Minister.
He called on international mediators to obtain Hamas guarantees for “the sure release of our hostages in the next rounds”. The Israeli government later gave in, releasing the imprisoned Palestinians, saying that the mediators had promised a safe passage for hostages in future exchanges.
