Hamas frees 8 more hostages but Israel puts prisoner release on hold after a chaotic handover

By MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH, WAFAA SHURAFA and JOSEPH KRAUSS, Associated Press

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas freed 8 hostages connected Thursday arsenic portion of the ceasefire successful the Gaza Strip, but the chaotic handover of immoderate of the captives, who were shuttled done a rowdy assemblage of thousands by masked militants, drew an aggravated protestation from Israel.

Israel was expected to merchandise 110 Palestinian prisoners aboriginal successful the day, including astir 30 serving beingness sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that was enactment connected clasp until the “safe release” of hostages tin beryllium assured and called connected mediators to intervene.

Hamas released 7 of the hostages successful beforehand of the destroyed location of its slain leader, Yahya Sinwar, arsenic thousands pressed in. Hamas called it a “message of determination,” but it triggered the latest successful a bid of disputes that person sent U.S. and Arab mediators scrambling to spot up the truce.

The ceasefire is aimed astatine yet ending the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought betwixt Israel and Hamas, and securing the merchandise of dozens of hostages abducted successful the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 violent onslaught that ignited the war.

Hamas has been designated arsenic a violent enactment by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

A amusement of unit arsenic hostages are released

The archetypal hostage — pistillate worker Agam Berger, 20 — was released aft Hamas paraded her successful beforehand of a smaller assemblage successful the heavy destroyed municipality Jabaliya exile campy successful bluish Gaza.

Israeli worker Agam Berger walks adjacent to masked Islamic Jihad militants arsenic she is handed implicit to the Red Cross astatine the Jabalya exile campy successful Gaza City, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025.(AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar)

Hours later, a chaotic country unfolded astatine a handover of the different 7 successful the confederate metropolis of Khan Younis. Hundreds of militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad radical arrived with a convoy, and thousands of radical gathered to watch, immoderate from the tilted rooftops of bombed-out buildings.

Footage showed hostage Arbel Yehoud, 29, looking stunned arsenic masked militants hustled her done the shouting crowd, pushing radical back. Also released were Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old Israeli man, and 5 Thai laborers, identified by Israel arsenic Watchara Sriaoun, 33; Pongsak Tanna, 36; Sathian Suwankam, 35; Bannawat Seathao, 27; and Surasak Lamnau, 32.

A fig of overseas workers were taken on with dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers during Hamas’ attack. Twenty-three Thais were among much than 100 hostages released during a weeklong ceasefire successful November 2023. Israel says 3 Thais stay successful captivity, 2 of whom are believed to beryllium dead.

Yehoud had been astatine the halfway of a quality earlier this week implicit the series successful which the hostages would beryllium released. The United States, Egypt and Qatar, which brokered the ceasefire aft a twelvemonth of pugnacious negotiations, resolved it with an statement that Yehoud would beryllium released with the others connected Thursday.

About 20 friends of Yehoud gathered successful confederate Israel watched arsenic the tense country unfolded connected unrecorded television. Some cried. Others had their hands implicit their eyes oregon mouths. The assemblage past burst into tears aft she was turned implicit to the Red Cross.

Netanyahu condemned the “shocking scenes” and called connected planetary mediators to guarantee the information of hostages successful aboriginal releases.

Ceasefire holds for present but adjacent signifier volition beryllium harder

In the archetypal signifier of the ceasefire, Hamas is acceptable to merchandise a full of 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children, older adults and sick oregon wounded men, successful speech for astir 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says Hamas has confirmed that 8 of the hostages to beryllium released successful this signifier are dead.

Among those acceptable to beryllium released from prisons is Zakaria Zubeidi, a salient erstwhile militant person and theatre director who took portion successful a melodramatic jailbreak successful 2021 earlier being rearrested days later.

Palestinians person cheered the merchandise of the prisoners, who they wide spot arsenic heroes who person sacrificed for the origin of ending Israel’s decades-long concern of lands they privation for a aboriginal state.

Israeli forces person meantime pulled backmost from astir of Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of radical to return to what remains of their homes and humanitarian groups to surge assistance.

The woody calls for Israel and Hamas to negociate a second phase successful which Hamas would merchandise the remaining hostages and the ceasefire would proceed indefinitely. The warfare could resume successful aboriginal March if an statement is not reached.

Israel says it is inactive committed to destroying Hamas, adjacent aft the militant radical reasserted its regularisation implicit Gaza wrong hours of the truce. A cardinal far-right spouse successful Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conjugation is already calling for the warfare to resume aft the ceasefire’s archetypal phase.

Hamas says it won’t merchandise the remaining hostages without an extremity to the warfare and a afloat Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Tens of thousands killed

Hamas started the warfare erstwhile it sent thousands of fighters storming into Israel. The militants killed immoderate 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted astir 250.

Israel’s ensuing aerial and crushed warfare was among the deadliest and astir destructive successful decades. More than 47,000 Palestinians person been killed, implicit fractional of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not accidental however galore of the dormant were militants.

The Israeli subject says it killed implicit 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence, and that it went to large lengths to effort to spare civilians. It blames civilian deaths connected Hamas due to the fact that its fighters run successful dense residential neighborhoods and enactment subject infrastructure adjacent homes, schools and mosques.

The Israeli violative has transformed full neighborhoods into mounds of grey rubble, and it’s unclear however oregon erstwhile thing volition beryllium rebuilt. Around 90% of Gaza’s colonisation has been displaced, often aggregate times, with hundreds of thousands of radical surviving successful squalid structure camps oregon shuttered schools.

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Krauss from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick successful Tel Aviv, Israel contributed. Follow AP’s warfare sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Originally Published: January 30, 2025 astatine 8:30 AM EST