Israeli and Thai hostages freed from Gaza under cease-fire contract

Eight other hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were published in the middle of the chaotic scenes as part of the ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Three Israelis and five Thai nationals were given to the Red Cross by Hamas before being transferred to Israeli forces and taken to Israel.

A total of 110 Palestinians were then released from Israeli prisons, including 32 with life sentences and 30 minors.

Israel has delayed their release in response to how hostages were treated when they were delivered.

Thursday’s versions mean that 15 hostages have been released since the entry into force of the ceasefire on January 19. Eighty-two are still detained.

The Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, was the first to be released Thursday – led by armed men masked through a scene of rubble in an event managed by the scene in Jabalia, in the north of Gaza.

Crowds of civilians were retained by armed fighters from Hamas while it appeared on a platform and received a certificate, before being transmitted to the Red Cross.

She was one of the seven women of an unarmed observers unit that was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, and the last in Gaza.

In the hostages of Tel Aviv, the crowds looking on the big screen applauded.

“I am delighted … to see her face, to see her return to her family. It is exciting,” the BBC Yahel Oren, who served in the same unit as Mme Berger, told the BBC.

Photos published by the Israeli army have shown that its embraces four other young women from the unit that were released during the previous exchange on Saturday.

In a statement, his family said that they could now “start the healing process” but that “recovery is not complete as long as not all hostages return home”.

About two hours later, in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, the other seven hostages were released in the middle of chaotic scenes.

They were led by armed fighters through crowds of acclaiming spectators, a lot of filming with mobile phones, before being put back to the Red Cross in waiting vehicles.

It took place symbolically in front of the remains of the house – bombed by Israel – of the late chief of Hamas Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the attacks of October 7. Sinwar was killed by Israeli troops in Rafah in October 2024.

“There were a lot of chaos, there were a lot of push,” said a journalist who covered the transfer to the BBC. There were songs by the name of Sinwar and for Hamas, he said.

A woman in the crowd said that she was “proud of the men of Gaza and the resistance of Gaza”.

In Tel Aviv, people were looking at anxiety as they held Israeli flags and photos of the hostages.

In addition to Mrs. Berger, Israeli civilians Arbel Yehud, 29, and Gadi Moses, 80, and Thai agricultural workers Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Sathao and Surasak Lamnao were released.

In a sign of the precariousness of the ceasefire, the liberation of prisoners was interrupted by Israel until it receives assurances that the scenes which accompanied the release of the hostages to Khan Younis would not be repeated.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “shocking scenes” were “additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organization”.

The Prime Minister’s office later said that he had since received mediators “a commitment that a safe outing will be guaranteed for our hostages” which will not be launched.

The postponement was the last hook to reach the delicate and complex reciprocal stages to which Israel and Hamas have committed themselves under the ceasefire.

Israel delayed two days, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza after Hamas did not include Arbel Yehud during the previous round of hostage outings on January 25.

Two hundred and fifty -one people were caught in captivity when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people. The attack sparked a war that devastated Gaza.

The 15 -month military offensive in Israel killed 47,460 Palestinians in the territory, according to the Ministry of Health managed by Gaza.

Before Thursday, 290 Palestinian prisoners – ranging from those who served long sorrows for bombing and other attacks to teenagers detained without indictment – had been released under the ceasefire.

Most returned to occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, while around 70 of the most serious offenders were expelled.