EditorEight more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have been released amid chaotic scenes as part of the ceasefire deal with Israel.
Three Israelis and five Thai nationals were handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas before being transferred to Israeli forces and taken to Israel.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelA total of 110 Palestinians were later released from Israeli prisons, including 32 with life sentences and 30 minors.
Israel delayed their release in response to the way the hostages were treated as they were handed over.
Thursday’s releases mean 15 hostages have been freed since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January. Eighty-two are still being held.
Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, was the first to be released on Thursday – led by masked gunmen through a scene of rubble in a stage-managed event in Jabalia, in the north of Gaza.
Crowds of civilians were kept back by armed Hamas fighters as she appeared on a platform and was given a certificate, before being passed to the Red Cross.
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She was one of seven women from an unarmed unit of observers who were kidnapped on 7 October 2023, and the last remaining in Gaza.
In Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, crowds watching on a big screen cheered. “I’m thrilled… to see her face, to see her going back to her family. It’s exciting,” Yahel Oren, who served in the same unit as Ms Berger a decade ago, told the BBC.
Photos released by the Israeli military showed her hugging four other young women from the unit who were released in the previous exchange on Saturday.
In a statement, her family said they could now “begin the healing process” but that “the recovery will not be complete until all the hostages return home”.
About two hours later, in Khan Younis in the south of Gaza, the seven other hostages were brought out amid chaotic scenes.
They were led by armed fighters through crowds of cheering spectators, many filming with mobile phones, before being handed over to the Red Cross in waiting vehicles.
Five Thai farm workers who were abducted during the October 7, attacks by Hamas on Israel have been released after being held for almost 500 days in Gaza.
Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Saethao and Surasak Lamnao had all been working in southern Israel when they were kidnapped during the attacks in October 2023.
Thailand’s prime minister said she was elated to hear news of their release and her government was working with Israel “so that they can reunite with their families soonest”. One Thai hostage remains unaccounted for.
“The Thai government, including everyone here in Thailand, have long been waiting for this very moment,” PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted on social media.
“I hold on to my hope that the remaining Thai nationals will be released and returned to us safely and speedily.”
For the families of the released hostages, it was a day they had long been waiting for.
Wilas Thaenna wept after receiving a call to say his son Pongsak had been freed on Thursday.
“I never thought this day would come, everything has been too quiet for a while,” the 65-year-old told the BBC.
He revealed he had barely slept the night before, as he was so excited at the prospect of his son being released.
“I don’t know how to explain how I got through all that happened,” he continued.
“My son was taken captive, I lost my wife, I had to stay strong.
“First five or six months, I’ve lost so much weight. It was distressing, I didn’t have strength to do anything or go anywhere. I was worried all the time.
“When I see him, I’m going to give him a hug and tell him to come home.”
It took place symbolically in front of the remains of the home – bombed by Israel – of late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the 7 October attacks. Sinwar was killed by Israeli troops in Rafah in October 2024.
“There was a lot of chaos, there was a lot of pushing,” a journalist who covered the handover told the BBC. There were chants of Sinwar’s name and for Hamas, he said.
A woman in the crowd said she was “proud of Gaza’s men and Gaza’s resistance”.
In Tel Aviv, people watched anxiously, as they held Israeli flags and photos of the hostages.
In addition to Ms Berger, Israeli civilians Arbel Yehud, 29, and Gadi Moses, 80, and Thai agricultural workers Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao and Surasak Lamnao were freed.
In a sign of the precariousness of the ceasefire, the release of the prisoners was paused by Israel until it received assurances that the scenes which accompanied the release of the hostages in Khan Younis would not be repeated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “shocking scenes” were “additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organisation”.
The prime minster’s office later said it had since received from mediators “a commitment that a safe exit will be guaranteed for our hostages” yet to be released.
