Arbel Yehoud, 29, was led through a heaving crowd in Khan Younis before she was passed to the Red Cross. NBC News described her as looking petrified, surrounded by militant fighters, many in black. Thousands pressed in around the handover site, which sat in front of the wrecked home of the slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
That was January 30, the latest swap under the ceasefire and hostage deal. Hamas released eight hostages: Yehoud, 20-year-old Agam Berger, 80-year-old Gadi Moses, and five Thai nationals. The Thais were named as Thenna Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Sriaoun Watchara, Seathao Bannawat and Rumnao Surasak. Israel was due to free 110 Palestinian detainees and prisoners in return. Since January 19, the tally stood at 15 hostages and 400 Palestinians set free.
Netanyahu stalls the prisoner release
The scenes in Gaza angered Israel’s prime minister. Benjamin Netanyahu called them “shocking” and “horrific,” and demanded that “the mediators ensure that such horrific scenes do not occur again.” President Isaac Herzog, in a separate statement, called the handover “nerve-wracking and unbearable” to watch.
Netanyahu’s office put the prisoner release on hold, calling the 110 people “terrorists” and saying they would not go free “until the safe exit of our hostages is guaranteed in the next few days.” The order came with defense minister Israel Katz. Mediators then delivered a commitment of a safe exit for hostages freed in later rounds, and the office said Israel would take extra care in the next exchanges. The release went ahead. Hamas’s Prisoners Media Office said it would happen at about 5 p.m. local time.
Reuters video showed buses leaving Ofer Prison in the West Bank after the hourslong wait. Armed men flanked by armored vehicles fired what looked like tear gas into nearby streets, since Israeli authorities have forbidden Palestinians from celebrating the returns.
Crowds and families
In Ramallah, released men were hoisted onto shoulders as people chanted. In Gaza, vans were mobbed so thickly that freed prisoners could barely climb out, and Al Jazeera reported hundreds of people rushing into the courtyard of a Khan Younis hospital. Zakaria Zubeidi, a former Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade leader who broke out of Gilboa prison in 2021, was expected to be among those released, according to multiple media reports.
Yehoud’s family said they were “overwhelmed with emotion.” They are still grieving her brother Dolev, 25, killed in the October 7 attacks, and her partner Ariel Cunio, 27, remains in captivity. “Our Arbel has been returned. However, our mission is not yet complete,” they said through the Hostage Families Forum.
The Israeli military said the freed hostages were being taken to hospitals for treatment. Moses was flown by Israeli Air Force helicopter along with the five Thai nationals. Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, told NBC News one American hostage “will be out on Saturday.”
