The militants led by Hamas released eight hostages on Thursday in the last launch since a high fire in the Gaza Strip took over this month. Israel was expected to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners.
The launch was delayed by a chaotic scene in which a multitude of Palestinians surrounded and mocked the hostages when they were delivered to the Red Cross.
The truce is aimed at reducing the most deadly and more destructive conflict ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose attack on October 7, 2023 to Israel caused the fight. It has remained despite a dispute earlier this week about the sequence in which hostages were released.
The first hostage, Israeli soldier Agam Berger, was thrown in northern Gaza. Hours later, a chaotic scene developed when thousands of people pressed for a delivery site in the city of Khan Younis de Gaza, in southern Gaza, in front of the destroyed house of the murdered leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar.
The images showed Arbel Yehoud, a 29 -year -old hostage, they seemed stunned while the crowd led her to the crowd to the red cross vehicles they expected.
Hundreds of Hamas militants and the smallest Islamic Jihad group arrived with a convoy in a sample of force, and thousands of people gathered to look, some of the fabrics of the bombarded buildings. Many in the crowd shouted and surrounded Yehoud while the masked militants took people away and escorted her.
Red Cross vehicles were delayed while trying to get away. The Israeli army then said the hostages were in Israel.
The other two Israelis published on Thursday were Yehoud and Gadi Moses, an 80 -year -old man. Five Thai nationals were released, but were not officially identified.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the “shocking” scene and asked international mediators to avoid similar events in the future.
Hamas had given Berger, 20 years old, to the Red Cross after parading it in front of a crowd in the Urban Refugee Field of Jabaliya in northern Gaza. The Israeli government then releases images of Berger hugging and crying with their parents.
Berger was among the five young soldiers kidnapped in the October 7 attack. The other four were released on Saturday.
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People cheered, applauded and whistled in a place in Tel Aviv, where the supporters of the hostages saw Berger's delivery on large screens next to a large clock that told the days when the hostages have been in captivity. Some had signs that said: “Agam we are waiting for you at home.”
Several foreign workers were taken captive along with dozens of civilians and Israeli soldiers during Hamas' attack. Twenty -three Thai were among more than 100 hostages released for a high -week fire in November 2023. Israel says that eight Thai remain in captivity, two of which are believed to be dead.
Of the people who are released to be released from prisons in Israel, 30 are fulfilling life imprisonment after being convicted of mortal attacks against Israelis. Zakaria Zubeidi, a leading former militant leader and theater director who participated in a dramatic Jailbreak in 2021 before being arrested days later, is also among which they will be launched.
Israel said that Yehoud had been supposed to have been released on Saturday and delayed the opening of crosses to northern Gaza when he was not.
The United States, Egypt and Qatar, who negotiated the high fire after a year of difficult negotiations, resolved the dispute with an agreement that Yehoud would be published on Thursday. Three other hostages, all men will be released on Saturday along with more Palestinian prisoners.
On Monday, Israel began allowing the Palestinians to return north of Gaza, the most destroyed part of the territory, and hundreds of thousands were returned. Many found only mounds of debris where their homes had been.
The high fire remains for now, but the next phase will be more difficult
In the first phase of Alto El Fuego, Hamas will launch a total of 33 Israeli hostages, including women, children, older adults and sick or injured men, in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says that Hamas has confirmed that eight of the hostages that will be released in this phase are dead.
The Palestinians have encouraged the liberation of prisoners, whom they see widely as heroes who have sacrificed for the cause of ending the occupation of Lands of Israel who want for a future state.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have retired from most of Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to return to what remains of their homes and humanitarian groups to increase assistance.
The agreement requires that Israel and Hamas negotiate a second phase in which Hamas would release the remaining hostages and the high fire would continue indefinitely. The conflict could be resumed in early March if an agreement is not reached.
Israel says he is still committed to destroying Hamas, even after the militant group reaffirmed his government over Gaza a few hours from the truce. A key right partner in the coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already asking that the conflict resume after the first phase of the high fire.
Hamas says he will not release the remaining hostages without the end of the conflict and a complete Israeli retreat from Gaza.
Hamas began the conflict when he sent thousands of combatants broken into Israel. The militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 250.
Israel's consequent air and terrestrial conflict among the most mortal and more destructive in decades. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not say how many dead were militants.
The Israeli army says that it killed more than 17,000 combatants, without providing evidence, and that it did everything possible to try to save civilians. Kake Hamas civil deaths because their combatants operate in dense residential neighborhoods and put military infrastructure near homes, schools and mosques.
The Israeli offensive has transformed whole neighborhoods into mounds of gray debris, and it is not clear how or when something will be rebuilt. About 90% of Gaza's population has been displaced, often several times, with hundreds of thousands of people living in miserable tents camps or closed schools.
Shurafa reported from Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip and Krauss de Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed.