Israel releases Palestinian prisoners after Hamas frees eight hostages
The prisoners released include 30 serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis.
Israel has released 110 Palestinian prisoners after eight hostages in the Gaza Strip were freed by Hamas-led militants earlier in the day.
It was a sometimes chaotic process that briefly called the exchange into question and underscored the fragility of a ceasefire that began earlier this month.
Crowds of Palestinians — the relatives and friends of released prisoners but also scores of jubilant supporters — mobbed buses carrying the prisoners. As soon as they stepped off the buses, the crowd hoisted the prisoners in the air.
The prisoners released include 30 who were serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis; seven were allowed to return to the occupied West Bank, but the rest were being transferred to Egypt before further deportation.
The prisoner releases began late on Thursday after militants in Gaza freed three Israelis and five Thai nationals, who were working on farms in southern Israel when taken hostage more than 15 months ago.
The releases are part of a ceasefire aimed at ending the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, and securing the release of dozens more hostages abducted in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, that ignited the war.
Scuffles erupted as the convoy of buses carrying the Palestinian prisoners departed from their Israeli prison in the West Bank. Palestinian teenagers threw stones outside the complex and Israeli forces fired tear gas as they tried to clear the area.
Three Palestinians were wounded in the confrontations outside the prison, according to Palestinian Red Crescent, which said Israeli forces had used gunfire and stun grenades to disperse crowds.
As Red Cross buses approached, the families of Palestinian prisoners caught their first glimpses of their loved ones through the bus windshields, some shattered in the melee of stone-throwing and tear gas-firing.
Zakaria Zubeidi — a prominent former militant leader and theatre director who took part in a dramatic jailbreak in 2021 before being re-arrested days later — wore a grey prison jumpsuit and flashed a victory sign from inside one of the buses.
The uproar came hours after a chaotic hostage handover in the Gaza Strip, where masked militants shuttled some captives through a rowdy crowd of thousands of Palestinians.
Hamas released seven of the hostages in front of the destroyed home of its slain leader, Yahya Sinwar, as thousands pressed in.
The militant group called it a “message of determination,” but it triggered the latest in a series of disputes that have sent US and Arab mediators scrambling to patch up the truce.
The first hostage — female soldier Agam Berger, 20 — was released after Hamas paraded her in front of a smaller crowd in the heavily destroyed urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Hours later, a chaotic scene unfolded at a handover of the other seven in the southern city of Khan Younis. Hundreds of militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group arrived with a convoy, and thousands of people gathered to watch, some from the tilted rooftops of bombed-out buildings.
Footage showed hostage Arbel Yehoud, 29, looking stunned as masked militants hustled her through the shouting crowd, pushing people back.
Also released were Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old Israeli man, and five Thai labourers. Both Yehoud and Moses are dual German-Israeli nationals.
Mr Netanyahu condemned the “shocking scenes” and called on international mediators to ensure the safety of hostages in future releases.
Israel identified the Thai hostages released as: Watchara Sriaoun, 33; Pongsak Thaenna, 36; Sathian Suwannakham, 35; Surasak Rumnao, 32; and Bannawat Saethao, 27. Thai officials said they appeared to be in good health.
Twenty-three Thais were among more than 100 hostages released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023. Israel says three Thais remain in captivity, two of whom are believed to be dead.
In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas is set to release a total of 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children, older adults and sick or wounded men, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says Hamas has confirmed that eight of the hostages to be released in this phase are dead.
