There were chaotic scenes in the third release of hostages from Gaza as thousands of Palestinians thronged kidnapees and armed gunmen struggled to hold people back before the handover to Red Cross officials
Eight more hostages have been released from Gaza today amid chaotic and dramatic scenes as crowds of Palestinians scrambled desperately to witness the historical event.
Three Israelis were handed over to Red Cross officials and five kidnapped Thai workers freed at three different locations within the bombed-out Palestinian Strip. Two captives released at Khan Younis were paraded amid thousands of Palestinians outside the home of late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Masked gunmen from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad struggled to hold back huge crowds, some of whom chanted ‘God is great.’
Crowds of locals, some waving militant flags, appeared to press forward as armed men formed a corridor for the Khan Younis hostages to be freed. The first release happened as female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, was handed over at Jabalia Camp in heavily-bombed northern Gaza. She was filmed flanked by armed men, waving and smiling as she stepped up onto a makeshift stage before her handover to Red Cross officials.
Agam was holding a framed certificate, although it is not known what it signified. Shortly afterward being driven to the edge of Gaza she was reunited with her parents before being taken by helicopter to a Tel Aviv hospital for a medical checkup. But the second release of several captives in Khan Younis in the south was chaotic and terrifying as it took place at the home of late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Some members of the crowd are thought to have chanted his name as the architect of the October 7 2023 attacks which sparked the war and killed 1200 in Israel. There Arbel Yehoud, 29 , looking distraught, was surrounded by armed and masked men who struggled to get her through the jostling crowd to the safety of a Red Cross Vehicle. And Gadi Mozes, 80, was also believed to have been freed in the Khan Younis release.
Since war broke out 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip by repeated airstrikes and amid fierce fighting before the temporary ceasefire was declared. Sinwar was killed last year This is the third prisoner-hostage swap as around 120 Palestinian prisoners are being released, among them 30 children.
There are also 32 prisoners serving life sentences and 48 who were serving lengthy sentences. Green flags of Hamas and the black sign of Palestinian Islamic Jihad flew defiantly among the crowds at Khan Younis. It is believed five Thai workers also seized on October 7 were freed at a different location in Gaza, as part of the eight being given their freedom.