Eight captives, including three Israelis and five foreign nationals, held in Gaza have been released in the third phase of a ceasefire and captive exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.
Agam Berger, a 20-year-old Israeli soldier, was the first to be released on Thursday, January 30, 2025, as she emerged from under rubble at the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, which has repeatedly been targeted by Israeli forces since October 2023.
Later on Thursday, an Israeli female civilian, Arbel Yehoud, was released outside of what used to be the house of former Hamas political chief Yahya Sinwar in the southern city of Khan Younis.
In chaotic scenes witnessed on the ground as the crowd of Palestinians swelled, another Israeli civilian; Gadi Moshe Mozes and five Thai nationals were also handed over to Red Cross officials, the Israeli army said in a tweet.
The five Thai captives are Thaenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakhan, Sriaoun Watchara, Saethao Bannawat and Rumnao Surasak.
Four Red Cross vehicles were at the venue for more than an hour as crowds converged on the scene.
The hostages were transferred in batches to the Red Cross vehicles by masked militants with rifles – before the Red Cross convoy left the area soon after 1 p.m. local time.
The confusion was in marked contrast to previous releases last Saturday, which were carried out amid tighter security, with crowds kept behind a cordon, and to the release earlier Thursday of an Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, in another part of Gaza.
In a post on X, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the way seven captives were released in Khan Younis, where a huge crowd surged onto the path they were escorted through. “I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
“This is yet another proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organisation.
“I demand that the mediators ensure that such horrific scenes are not repeated and guarantee the safety of our hostages.”
Benjamin Netanyahu
In return, Israel is due to release later today 110 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including 30 minors, 32 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment and 48 prisoners with high sentences.
Under the ongoing ceasefire and hostage deal, Israel agreed to release 30 prisoners for each freed hostage who is a child, civilian woman or civilian man over the age of 50, 50 prisoners for each female soldier and 110 prisoners for each injured or sick hostage.
Last Saturday, Hamas released four female Israeli soldiers held in Gaza and 200 Palestinians were released from Israeli jails as part of the agreement that halted more than 15 months of war.
Ben-Gvir Slams Chaotic Handover Scenes At Khan Younis
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli former national Security Minister who resigned over the ceasefire deal, asserted in a statement on Telegram that the captives’ handover scenes in Khan Younis show Israel did not achieve “a complete victory” in Gaza.
“We are happy and excited about the return of our beloved Agam, Arbel and Gadi, but the horrific images from Gaza make it clear: This is not a complete victory – this is a complete failure, in a reckless deal like no other.”
Itamar Ben-Gvir
He claimed that the government could have stopped the “bloodthirsty crowd that is now trying to lynch our hostages from humanitarian aid, fuel, electricity and water, and crushed them militarily until they themselves beg to return our hostages, but it decided to choose the path of surrender to human monsters. It is not too late to come to its senses!”
READ ALSO: Adekunle Gold Reflects on Overcoming Fear of Losing People
