Palestinian militants began handing over three Israeli hostages in Gaza on Thursday in return for 110 Palestinian prisoners to be freed in the latest stage of a ceasefire deal.
An Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, wearing an olive green uniform, was led through a narrow ally between heavily damaged buildings and over piles of rubble in Jabalia in northern Gaza 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.”
The two other hostages, Gadi Moses, 80, and Arbel Yahoud, 29, were shown hugging one another in the presence of masked gunmen in black uniforms at another exchange site, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, a video released by Hamas ally Islamic Jihad showed. Moses and Yahoud were both abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct 7. 2023.
Yahoud was later shown being handed over to the Red Cross surrounded by a surging crowd and armed Palestinian militants at the site of the bombed house in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israel.
Israelis gathered in what has become known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where people have campaigned on behalf of hostages being held in Gaza, cheering and crying as they watched the release on a giant screen. The hostages will be taken to hospital for treatment.
Dozens of Palestinians to return to West Bank, Gaza
They were the first of eight hostages to be released Thursday. Five Thai nationals, not yet officially identified, were expected to be freed as part of a separate agreement.
Dozens of militants thronged the site in a potent reminder that Hamas, which Israel has vowed to obliterate, still has a strong presence in Gaza despite heavy bombardment from the Middle East’s most advanced military over more than 15 months.
Mohamed El Saife, a freelance videographer working for CBC News, returns to what’s left of his family home in northern Gaza after Israeli forces began to withdraw from a main corridor under the terms of an agreement on a ceasefire in the 15-month-long war.
The Palestinian prisoners, who include 30 minors and some members of Palestinian groups convicted for their involvement in deadly attacks in Israel, will be taken to the West Bank or Gaza later in the day.
Three Israeli civilians and four soldiers — all women — have been released so far in the current ceasefire, which began on Jan. 19. In return, Israel has released 290 Palestinian convicts and detainees.
More than 250 hostages were abducted in the Hamas attack in Israel.
Around half were released the following month during the only previous truce, and others have been recovered dead or alive during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and turned the tiny coastal enclave into a wasteland of rubble.
Israel still lists 90 captives in Gaza, with around 30 declared dead in absentia.
U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visited Gaza as the tenuous Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds. Witcoff is believed to be the first U.S. official to visit Gaza in at least 15 years.
Israel launched its campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, when militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to health authorities there.
After the release last Sunday of hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher and the recovery of the body of an Israeli soldier missing for a decade, Israel says 94 Israelis and foreigners remain held in Gaza, though it is unclear how many of them are still alive.
