Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Mozes, 5 Thais, Freed Amid Mayhem

Stand for Israel  |  January 30, 2025

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and thousands of Gazans seen outside the house of Sinwar in Khan Younis, Gaza, where two Israeli hostages were released to the Red Cross on January 30, 2025.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and thousands of Gazans seen outside the house of Sinwar in Khan Younis, Gaza, where two Israeli hostages were released to the Red Cross on January 30, 2025. (Photo: Abed Rahim Khaatib/Flash90)

We thank God that eight more hostages – including three Israeli and five Thai hostages – were released on Thursday.

But the handover didn’t go as smoothly as Israel had hoped – gunmen forced some of the newly freed hostages to walk through a mob of hostile people in a drawn-out process of handing them over to the Red Cross. In response, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu says this will not be tolerated.

The Times of Israel tells us more:

Yehoud, Mozes and the five Thais were released in an uncontrolled and dangerous handover early Thursday afternoon, outside the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, surrounded by hundreds of masked gunmen and large, seething crowds.

The two Israeli civilians were forced to walk through the crowds, with gunmen at their side, from the vehicles that delivered them and, later, to the Red Cross vehicles, in protracted, chaotic scenes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the chaotic handover was unacceptable, in a statement immediately after the release. “I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” said Netanyahu. “This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization.”

Israel delayed the slated release of Palestinian prisoners in protest of the chaotic handover, with Netanyahu’s office saying it would not proceed “until the safe passage of our hostages can be guaranteed in the next releases.”

But now the last female soldier out of the five women IDF soldiers who were captured together are all released, and the friends are celebrating Agam Berger’s return:

The young women watched on Thursday morning as their friend and comrade was released from Hamas captivity and reunited with her shortly after she arrived at Rabin Medical Center.

Dr. Lena Koren Feldman, director of Rabin Medical Center, said that when the four former hostages saw Berger being released, “there were screams of joy and great excitement.”