By Reuters – published by CNA and CNN
Jerusalem/Cairo – Two Israeli and five Thai hostages released by Palestinian militants in Gaza are now in Israeli territory, the Israeli military said today (Jan. 30).
It identified the five Thai nationals as: Pongsak Tanna, Sathian Suwannakhan, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat and Surasak Rumnao. The military said that they will be met by Thai government officials at its reception point at a base near Gaza.
Earlier today, Palestinian militants began handing over three Israeli hostages in Gaza in return for 110 Palestinian prisoners to be freed under a phased agreement that halted fighting in the shattered coastal territory earlier this month.
However, the Israeli government later said that it has delayed the planned release of 110 Palestinian prisoners after it condemned chaotic scenes surrounding the handover of the two Israeli and five Thai hostages in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, earlier in the day, CNN said.
An Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, wearing an olive green uniform, was led through a narrow alley 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.”
Two other hostages, Gadi Moses, 80, and Arbel Yahud, 29, both abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, were shown hugging one another in the presence of masked gunmen in black uniforms in a video released by Hamas ally Islamic Jihad.
Yahud 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 Al-Sinwar, who was killed by Israel.
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.
“The killing of leaders only makes the people stronger and more stubborn,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said of Sinwar, who was filmed by an Israel drone badly wounded throwing a piece of wood at the device in his final defiance of Israel.
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.
Israelis gathered in what has become known as Hostages Square, a central 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.
Around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were abducted in the Hamas attack in Israel, the bloodiest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Israel’s military response has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians and laid waste to the enclave of 2.3 million people.
Around half the hostages 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.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans, most displaced repeatedly during the conflict, have returned to their neighbourhoods in the north, where the fighting was most intense. Many have found their homes to be uninhabitable and basic goods in short supply.
Israel still lists 89 captives in Gaza, with around 30 declared dead in absentia.
In the course of the war triggered by the Hamas attack, Israel has killed leaders of Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, striking major blows against Iran’s network of proxies in the Middle East. The fall of Iran-backed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was also a boost for Israel.
Israeli forces have stepped up operations in another Palestinian territory, the West Bank, since the Gaza ceasefire came into effect, saying they are targeting militants there.
The father of one of the Thai hostages released today told CNN it is “indescribable” to hear that his son was freed from captivity in Gaza.
Wilas Tanna said his son, Pongsak Tanna, was among the group released in Khan Younis.
“This is an indescribable feeling,” he said. “When he returns I want him to enter a monkhood, as (it is) a Thai belief (that) it could get rid of all of the bad luck.”
Pongsak Tanna was working on a farm when he was captured by Hamas on October 7. His father told CNN he will travel to Bangkok from his home in Thailand’s northeastern Buriram to pick him up on his return.
The mother of another hostage, Surasak Lamnao, also told CNN that her son was among the group released.
“I ran out of words. I have been waiting for this day for a long time,” Surasak’s mother Kammee Lamnao added. “We will make a merit at the temple and hope this kind of bad luck will never return to our family again.”
CAPTIONS:
Top: One of five Thai hostages, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters as he is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Photo: AP/Jehad Alshrafi and published by CNA
Insert: Red Cross vehicles, left, wait for the hand-over of Israeli soldier hostage Agam Bergerat the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza City, on Jan. 30, 2025. Photo: AP/Mohammad Abu Samra and published by CNA
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