Latest round of Gaza hostage-prisoner exchanges carried out

The latest round of exchanges of hostages from the Gaza Strip for Palestinian prisoners was carried out with Israel on Thursday.

Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners released under the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas left Israel’s Ofer Prison in the West Bank on Thursday afternoon after a delay.

Many of those freed have reportedly arrived in the West Bank. In Ramallah, 66 Palestinians were received by their relatives, Palestinian media reported.

Israel was expected to release 110 jailed Palestinians in total in exchange for the handover earlier on the day of eight hostages – three Israelis and five Thais – held by militants in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

The released Palestinian prisoners included at least 30 convicted murderers, as well as some women and minors.

While some of them were to be taken to the Gaza Strip, several others are to be sent abroad under the agreement because of the severity of their crimes.

All the released hostages meanwhile were handed over to the Israeli army and first brought to a meeting with their parents on Israeli territory. They were subsequently flown by helicopter to hospital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had paused the release of the Palestinian prisoners after disorder broke out at one of the hostage handovers in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.

Broadcasters showed Arbel Yehud, a 29-year-old woman, and Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man, struggling to make their way through the densely-packed crowd of chanting people and to the waiting Red Cross vehicles.

“I view with utmost severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said in a statement as he paused the reciprocal release of the Palestinians.

A short time later he announced that he had received assurances about the safety of the hostage handovers going forward, paving the way for the release of the Palestinians.

This marks the third round of releases since an initial six-week truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza went into effect on January 19.

Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, was the first to be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Her transfer took place amid the ruins of the Jabalia urban refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Berger, likely acting under duress, waved to a crowd from a stage she was placed on. Berger’s family in Israel watched the ceremony on television and reacted with enthusiastic cheers to seeing her.

A crowed of people also celebrated and waved Israeli flags at what has become known as “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv.

Hours later, Israeli authorities confirmed that five Thai nationals and two German-Israelis, Yehud and Moses, were released. Both of the German-Israelis are civilians.

These seven were released to aid workers in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.

Threatening scenes during hostage release

Broadcaster Al Jazeera showed chaotic scenes of Yehud and Moses struggling to make their way through the densely-packed crowed of shouting people and to the waiting ICRC vehicles.

Many Palestinians attempted to photograph the woman with their mobile phones. Masked and armed militants accompanied and protected them. A fighter held the hand of the woman, who appeared frightened.

The handover “ceremony” took place next to the destroyed house of Hamas leader Yehya al-Sinwar, who had led the militant group in Gaza until he was killed by Israeli forces in October.

“This is further evidence of the unimaginable cruelty of the terrorist organization Hamas,” Netanyahu said, according to his office.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke of “scenes of abuse and terror.” Nevertheless, he said the return of all eight hostages from captivity brought tears to his eyes.

German leaders reacted with relief to the release. “Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses are free, both German-Israeli citizens,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on the platform X. “We are relieved and glad for all the hostages who returned today.”

A similar sentiment was expressed by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Yehud was abducted from her house in the Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7, 2023, along with her boyfriend. The woman’s brother, who also lived in Nir Oz, was killed during the attack.

Before their release, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group released a video of Yehud smiling and embracing Moses.

Moses was also abducted from Nir Oz. His partner was killed in the massacre.

Palestinian prisoners include more than 30 lifers

Of the 110 Palestinian prisoners who were to be exchanged for the three Israeli hostages, more than 30 had been sentenced to life imprisonment.

They included Zakaria Zubeidi, who during the Second Palestinian Intifada was a commander of the military wing of the Fatah movement in Jenin, in the northern West Bank.

During the period between 2000 and 2005, around 3,500 Palestinians were killed, with more than 1,000 Israelis losing their lives in attacks by Palestinians.

The Times of Israel reported that Zubeidi received a hero’s welcome as he arrived in the West Bank on Thursday.

According to media reports, Mahmoud Atallah, who is serving a life sentence plus 15 years for the murder of a Palestinian woman accused of collaborating with Israel, was also to be released.

No Palestinian prisoners were to be released for the five Thai hostages. Israeli media reported they were freed under a separate agreement between Hamas and Thailand.

Militants from Hamas and other extremist groups killed around 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 Israelis as hostages to the Gaza Strip during their assault on Israel in October 2023.

The attack was the trigger for the war in the besieged coastal area, where, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 47,400 people have been killed since. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Ceasefire and exchange of hostages and prisoners

The ceasefire agreement, which came into effect on January 19, states that in an initial phase, 33 hostages are to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners over six weeks: Seven hostages were freed in the past two weekends.

Hamas recently announced that eight of the 33 hostages were dead, without specifying which hostages these were.

The fate of a mother and her two small children, who were also abducted to the Gaza Strip and were to be released in the first phase, remains uncertain.

According to Israeli reports, around 80 hostages remain in the Gaza Strip. Three more of them are to be freed on Saturday.