Israel releases Palestinian prisoners after delay over chaotic hostage handover

Hamas freed three Israeli and five Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday and Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners after delaying the process in anger at the swarming crowds at one of the hostage handover points.

Arbel Yehoud, 29, abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, looked fearful and struggled to walk through the crowd as armed militants handed her to the Red Cross in a tense scene in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Another Israeli hostage, Gadi Moses, 80, was also released along with five Thai nationals who were working on Israeli farms near Gaza when the militants burst through the border fence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the sight of their chaotic handover was shocking and threatened death to anyone hurting hostages.

He and Defence Minister Israel Katz said they had ordered a delay in the releases of the prisoners "until the safe exit of our hostages in the next phases is assured". The prime minister's office said later that mediators had committed to ensuring the safe passage of hostages in future handovers.

Later on Thursday, buses arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah carrying some of the 110 Palestinian prisoners to be freed as part of the phased agreement that halted more than 15 months of war in the coastal territory on Jan. 19.

The prisoners were met by cheering crowds in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory, with men chanting "we sacrifice our souls and blood for you."

Zakaria Zubaidi, one of the leaders of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas' rival the Fatah group, was the most prominent Palestinian prisoner to be freed. He escaped prison in 2021 with three other inmates but was then recaptured.

Zubaidi has always been known as the strongman of the West Bank city of Jenin, a hotbed of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation and site of frequent Israeli army raids, including a major operation just a week ago.

"Thank God who blessed me with the release today. May the souls of the martyrs of Gaza rest in peace," Zubaidi told jubilant crowds who had gathered to greet him in Ramallah.

Asked about reports Israel would not allow him to return home to the Jenin refugee camp, Zubaidi replied, "The dragon is the owner of the land and the hunter must leave".

He is known in Jenin as the dragon.

CLASHES IN RAMALLAH

Palestinian health officials said at least 14 Palestinians were hurt by Israeli fire, some with live and rubber bullets, others from gas inhalation, as they gathered at the entrance to Ramallah to welcome the freed detainees.

Video footage showed Palestinians throwing stones towards police and then running away as police began firing.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Some prisoners from East Jerusalem had arrived at their homes while others were taken to Gaza or deported to Egypt.

Earlier, in Jabalia in northern Gaza, an Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, wearing an olive green uniform, was led through a narrow alley between heavily damaged buildings and over piles of rubble before being handed to the Red Cross.

"Our daughter is strong, faithful, and brave," a statement from her family said. "Now Agam and our family can begin the healing process, but the recovery will not be complete until all the hostages return home."

A video released by Netanyahu's office showed a pale Berger crying and smiling while sitting on her mother's lap.

Footage of 80-year-old Moses reuniting with his family showed him walking unaided. A doctor said Moses was in a relatively good condition but would continue to be monitored.

Netanyahu has faced criticism in Israel for not having sealed a hostage deal earlier in the war after the security failure that enabled the Oct. 7 Hamas assault.

HAMAS DEFIANCE

Hamas, which Israel has vowed to obliterate, still has a strong presence in Gaza despite more than 15 months of heavy bombardment from the Middle East's most advanced military and the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar.

"The killing of leaders only makes the people stronger and more stubborn," senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said of Sinwar, filmed by an Israeli drone badly wounded throwing a piece of wood at the device in his final defiance of Israel.

The release in Khan Younis took place near the bombed ruins of Sinwar's house.

The Palestinian prisoners include 30 minors and some convicted members of Palestinian groups responsible for deadly attacks that have killed dozens of people in Israel.

Israelis gathered in what has become known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, cheering and crying as they watched the release on a giant screen. The hostages will be taken to hospital for treatment.

Some people cheered as U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived at the square, in apparent gratitude for his role in securing the ceasefire deal. He shook hands with family members of hostages and others.

Around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were abducted in the Hamas attack in Israel, the bloodiest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Among the dead and abducted were dozens of Thai agricultural workers.

Israel's military response has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians and laid waste to the enclave of 2.3 million people, who face severe shortages of medicine, fuel and food.

Around half the hostages were released in November 2023 during the only previous truce, and others have been recovered dead or alive during Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans, most displaced repeatedly during the conflict, have returned to their neighbourhoods in the north, where the fighting was most intense. Many have found their homes to be uninhabitable and basic goods in short supply.

Israel still lists 82 captives in Gaza, with around 30 declared dead in absentia.

In the course of the war triggered by the Hamas attack, Israel has killed other leaders of Hamas as well as Lebanon's Hezbollah, striking major blows against Iran's network of proxies in the Middle East. The fall of Iran-backed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was also a boost for Israel.

After the hostages were released, Hamas confirmed that military leader Mohammed Deif, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attack, had been killed, more than five months after Israel claimed in August to have killed him in a July airstrike.