Palestinian militants on Thursday freed three Israeli hostages and five foreigners captured in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel as the third hostage-prisoner exchange of the Gaza ceasefire got under way.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced what he called “shocking scenes” during the hostage releases which came under a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the war in the Gaza Strip.
First to be freed was Israeli woman soldier Agam Berger, 20, handed over to International Committee of the Red Cross officials in Jabalia in the north of the Palestinian territory.
Before she was freed, footage of a sombre Berger showed her on a stage with masked Hamas members in distinctive green headbands, being prompted to wave to onlookers.
Israel’s military said Berger was being taken to hospital for medical treatment.
It said another two Israelis and five foreigners were later handed over to the Red Cross and en route for Israel.
It said they were “on their way toward IDF (army) and ISA (security agency) forces in the Gaza Strip”.
The two other Israeli hostages due to be freed were Gadi Moses and Arbel Yehud. Five Thais were also to be released.
In devastated Khan Yunis, dense crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of Yehud and Moses ahead of their release near the childhood home of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in October.
Ahead of the release, Islamic Jihad aired video footage of Moses and Yehud hugging each other and smiling.
On Wednesday, the Moses family said it had “received with great excitement the wonderful news of our beloved Gadi’s return”.
Netanyahu in a statement slammed “the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages”.
Television images had shown gunmen struggling to control hundreds of Gazans gathered to witness the handover.
“This is yet another proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization,” Netanyahu said.
A fourth exchange is scheduled for the weekend, but Hamas accused Israel on Wednesday of jeopardising the deal by holding up aid deliveries, an allegation Israel dismissed as “fake news”.
The ceasefire that began on January 19 hinges on the release of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, in exchange for 1,900 people — mostly Palestinians — in Israeli custody.
Before Thursday, Hamas had released seven hostages, with 290 prisoners freed in exchange.
Israel is to release 110 prisoners, including 30 minors, in exchange for the three Israelis, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said.
The next swap on Saturday will see three Israeli men released, according to Netanyahu’s office.
