Hamas has handed over eight hostages—three Israelis and five Thai nationals—amid chaotic scenes on Jan. 30, in exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners who are due to be released later.
The first of the hostages to be released was Agam Berger, 20, who had been abducted from the Nahal Oz military base close to the border with Gaza by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, in which over 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage.
On the morning of Jan. 30, the Israeli Defense Forces issued a statement on Telegram in which they said the other seven hostages—another female soldier, Arbel Yehoud, 29; Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man; and five Thai nationals—had been handed over to the IDF and officers from the Shin Bet intelligence agency.
The Israeli prime minister’s office gave the names of the Thai nationals as Thenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat and Rumnao Surasak.
All eight captives had been held in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, and were released as part of the third exchange since the cease-fire was brokered.
But Israeli officials have filed a complaint to international mediators over the scenes as Yehoud and Moses were released.
Netanyahu Criticizes ‘Terrible Scenes’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I view with utmost severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages. This is additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organization.”“I demand that the mediators make certain that such terrible scenes do not recur, and guarantee the safety of our hostages. Whoever dares to harm our hostages will pay the price.”
Israel said Yehoud was supposed to have been freed on Jan. 25, and it delayed the opening of crossings to northern Gaza after Hamas failed to produce her.
Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, which brokered the cease-fire, resolved the dispute by agreeing that Yehoud would be released five days later.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the seven hostages were “on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment.”
IDF ‘Salute’ Returning Hostage
The statement went on, “The commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces salute and embrace the returning hostage as she makes her way home to the state of Israel.”The three-phase cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which has held so far, came into effect on Jan. 19, with fighting in Gaza paused for six weeks while hostages are released in exchange for convicted Palestinian prisoners.
The five Thai nationals were among a number of workers from that country who were seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 or Oct. 8, 2023.
When more than 100 hostages were released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023, they included 23 Thai nationals.
In recent years, thousands of workers from Thailand have come to work on Israeli farms.
Former Jenin Commander Released
The 110 Palestinian prisoners being released on Jan. 30 include Zakaria Zubeidi, a high-profile former commander of Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group in the West Bank city of Jenin.Zubeidi, who once received Israeli amnesty, was rearrested by Israel again in 2019 after his alleged involvement in further shootings. He then broke out of prison in 2021, before being recaptured three days later.
The other prisoners include 30 serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.
On Feb. 1, another three hostages, all men, are due to be released by Hamas, along with another batch of Palestinian prisoners.
In the first phase of the cease-fire, Hamas is set to release 33 hostages, including women, children, older adults and sick or wounded men, in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has told Israel that eight of the 33 hostages are dead.
During the first phase, the government, led by Netanyahu, is due to negotiate the details of the second phase with Hamas.
Negotiators contemplated that it would involve the release of the remaining hostages and a permanent cease-fire.
But Hamas says it will not release the remaining hostages until the IDF completely withdraws from the Gaza Strip, and fighting could resume in early March, if an agreement is not reached.
Some of Netanyahu’s coalition partners, including Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have called for the war to resume after the cease-fire’s first phase.
The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza says 46,000 people died in the fighting and the Israeli military has said it has killed an estimated 17,000 Hamas fighters.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have returned to their home neighborhoods to find them transformed into mounds of rubble.
