Jan. 30 (UPI) — A further two Israeli and five Thai nationals freed by Hamas after being held hostage for 482 days crossed from Gaza into Israel on Thursday afternoon, four hours after 20-year-old soldier, Agam Berger, was handed over to the Red Cross.
Israeli civilians Arbel Yehud, 29 and Gadi Moses, 80, were released in Khan Yunis in the southern part of Gaza, along with Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao and Surasak Lamnao.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the chaotic way the release was conducted as “shocking” after Yehud was seen being led through unruly crowds by masked gunmen.
“This is additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the terrorist organization Hamas. I demand from the mediators to make sure that such terrible scenes do not recur, and to guarantee the safety of our hostages,” he said.
Israel was due to hand over 110 Palestinian prisoners, 30 of them women and children, later Thursday, according to the Hamas-run Prisoners Media Office, but Netanyahu said the exchange would now be delayed due to events in Khan Yunis.
Their release would be postponed “until the safe exit of our hostages is guaranteed in the next few days” the prime minister’s office said.
“Israel is demanding that the mediators achieve this.”
The seven were received by Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency personnel and taken to the initial reception point in southern Israel for initial medical checks, according to a statement from the IDF which said Thai government officials would be on hand to meet the five Thai nationals.
The Times of Israel reported that Yehud and Moses were due to be met by familiy members at the center, while Berger, who traveled back separately from the north, had been reunited with her parents.
“Agam is home,” the IDF confirmed on X after she was released earlier at around 10 a.m. local time at the other end of the strip in Jabalia in the north.
Berger and the others were the third group of hostages to be freed in exchange for the release of Palestinians held in Israel as part of a fragile cease-fire agreement that came into force Jan. 19.
According to The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, Berger was abducted from her northwestern Nahal Oz military base on Oct. 7, 2023, in Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel in which 1,200 were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Berger served as an observer, arriving on base just two days before the attack, it said.
The attack triggered a boody 15-month war in which Israel would decimate Gaza and see more than 47,000 Palestinians killed and 111,000 injured, according to Gaza Health Ministry figures, as it hunted down the leadership of Hamas and affiliated Jihaddist gorups and searched for its kidnapped citizens.
The fighting in Gaza came to a tentative halt on Jan. 19 when the cease-fire went into effect. cleating the way for three Israeli hostages and 90 Palestinian captives to be released.
A second exchange occurred Saturday, with Hamas releasing four females soldiers who, like Berger, were stationed at Nahal Oz, and Israeli releasing 200 Palestinians prisoners.
The IDF said those returned to Israel undergo an immediate initial medical assessment.
“The commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces salute and embrace the returning hostages as they come back home,” it said on X.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video to X of Berger’s family watching as she was transferred to the Red Cross.
Video: Agam Berger’s family, at the initial reception facility, watching as Agam is transferred to the Red Cross. pic.twitter.com/jgbwm9T6yj— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) January 30, 2025
