Hostages taunted by mob in Gaza just before release

Daily News Article   —   Posted on January 31, 2025

(by Mick Krever, CNN) Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Khan Younis — Chaotic scenes surrounding the release of Israeli and Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday brought condemnation from Israeli leaders and a temporary delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners, who were ultimately released later in the day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed by several hours the agreed release of 110 Palestinian [prisoners in Israeli jails] after live images were broadcast across Israel of a crowd of thousands jostling and jeering as the hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in the central Gazan city of Khan Younis.

[“I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said. “This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization.”  The leader demanded that those who mediated a ceasefire deal – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – “ensure that such horrific scenes do not occur again” in future exchanges — and threatened retaliation if any captives were harmed.]

The release Thursday morning of the captive Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, in Jabalya, northern Gaza [was] a stage-managed affair in which Hamas militants paraded her in front of cameras [where they forced her to smile and wave, and pose for pictures taken by a Hamas “photographer”], and then handed her to representatives from the International Committee for the Red Cross. (See video under “Resources” below.)

But the release in the early afternoon of two Israeli and five Thai civilians produced some of the most [upsetting/humiliating/scary] images of the nearly two-week-old ceasefire, striking a painful nerve for much of the Israeli public.

[The] handover was [conducted by] Hamas and [Palestinian Islamic Jihad]. Thousands of Gazans crowded in Khan Younis as Hamas and its allies staged the handover outside the demolished house of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, killed by Israeli forces in October.

Among those released was Arbel Yehoud, a 29-year-old civilian whom terrorists abducted from her home in the Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7, 2023. She was held captive by the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Stepping out from a white van, the Israeli civilian looked gaunt and frightened. As militants walked her through a roaring crowd, she kept her head locked forward as her eyes darted left and right. The crowd jostled her back and forth as she made her way toward a waiting Red Cross vehicle.

[Gadi Mozes, age 80, had also been held captive by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was the other Israeli released in central Gaza on Thursday. He was also pushed and shoved through the crowd near Arbel Yehoud. Both hostages eventually made it to the Red Cross van after the harrowing ordeal/terrorizing treatment]. …

.[On October 7, 2023, as part of the Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups barbarically massacred 1,139 civilians and soldiers and abducted 251 people from Israel to the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and elderly people.] Fifteen hostages have been released since a ceasefire went into effect earlier this month. Their freedom has brought some relief to a nation traumatized daily by images of civilians and soldiers held captive since October 7, 2023.

But that solace has accompanied by astounding images of Hamas militants’ elaborate handover ceremonies – clearly designed to [humiliate and terrorize the hostages and] show that the group is [winning], despite the Israeli government’s promises of “total victory” over the perpetrators of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich…has cited Hamas’s presence on the streets of Gaza as proof that Israel must return to war, saying that it was proof “of the heavy and terrible price Israel is paying for this bad [hostage release] deal.”  …..

Published at CNN on Jan. 30. Reprinted here in part for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission. Mohammad Al Sawalhi, Tareq Al Hilou, Eugenia Yosef, Lauren Izso, Dana Karni and Khader Al-Za’anoun, a journalist with WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed reporting.

Background

The hostages released on Jan. 30 in exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners in the ceasefire agreement are:

Agam Berger, 20, is an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz military base. She was seen being taken away on Oct. 7, 2023 in videos released by Hamas.

Arbel Yehud, 29, was abducted from Nir Oz along with her partner, 27-year-old Ariel Cunio and his brother, David. Ariel and David remain in captivity.

Gadi Moses, 80, was also abducted from Nir Oz, where he worked as an agricultural expert. His partner, Efrat Katz, was killed in the attack.

The five Thai nationals released under a separate agreement were Thenna Pongsak, 36, Sathian Suwannakham, 35, Sriaoun Watchara, 33, Seathao Bannawat, 27, and Rumnao Surasak, 32.  The Thai hostages had been working in Israel as agricultural workers when they were taken captive along with the others in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.  The five were met by Thai government officials upon their release. Three more Thai laborers remain in captivity, along with two nationals from Nepal and Tanzania, some of whom Israel has declared dead.

See videos of the 3 Israelis and 5 Thai nationals returning to Israel at PM Netanyahu's X page.

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Prime Minister Netanyahu posted on X on Jan. 30:

The Government of Israel is committed to returning all of the hostages and the missing.
"And I will return the captivity of My people Israel." (Amos 9:14)