Israeli hostage released as latest prisoner exchange with Hamas begins amid Gaza ceasefire

Tel Aviv — A female Israeli hostage, Agam Berger, 20, was released in Gaza early Thursday as the next hostages-for-prisoners swap agreed to by Israel and Hamas got underway. Two more Israelis, including an 80-year-old man, and five Thai hostages were expected to be released later in the day.

Berger was released amid the ruins of the Jabalia Refugee Camp in northern Gaza. She was the final hostage from an all-female unarmed Israeli military unit that had been working to surveil Gaza. 

Seven women from the unit were taken hostage during Hamas’ Oct. 7 2023 attack on Israel, which saw militants kill about 1,200 people and take a total of 251 others hostage.

Israel’s military response to the attack has killed more than 47,300 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, and decimated the Palestinian territory, displacing virtually all of its population and causing a wide scale humanitarian crisis.

Israel is expected to free 110 Palestinian prisoners as part of the exchange on Thursday.

Berger was escorted by militants out of the back of a destroyed building in Jabalia. Wearing an outfit that resembled green military fatigues, she was handed over to members of the Red Cross.

Two other Israeli hostages, Arbel Yehoud, 29, and Gadi Moses, 80, were expected to be transferred to the Red Cross later in the day in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Yehoud and Moses have been held by the militant group Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas.

A huge crowd gathered Thursday in Khan Younis to witness the handover, expected to take place near the home of deceased Hamas commander Yahya Sinwar. Dozens of armed militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad paraded through the area.

According to the terms of the ceasefire deal, Yehoud should have been among the four women released during the second exchange on Jan. 24. After that release last weekend, the terms of the agreement stipulated that Israel would release a number of Palestinian prisoners from jails and allow Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza, across the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the north and south of the enclave.

When Yehoud wasn’t among those released last weekend, Israel said it would not allow Palestinians to cross the Netzarim Corridor. After a quick negotiation process, Hamas agreed to carry out Thursday’s previously unscheduled hostage release, to include Yehoud.

In anticipation of the release and according to the new agreement, Israel started allowing Palestinians to cross the Netzarim Corridor into northern Gaza on Monday. 

Tens of thousands of people have made their way back to the north , most of them on foot, some finding the ruins of their homes and the remains of loved ones, but also reuniting with family members they haven’t been able to see in months.

Israel has not confirmed the identities of the Thai nationals expected to be released on Thursday. A number of Thai citizens who had been agricultural workers in Israel were taken hostage in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Hamas and its allies are expected to release a total of 33 Israeli hostages during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire, which took effect on Jan. 19. It is hoped that negotiations on the far more difficult second phase of the ceasefire plan will start to yield progress soon. 

Berger’s release left 88 hostages — both living and dead — still in Gaza, according to Israeli officials, including seven dual U.S. nationals: Keith Siegel, 65, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, who grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut; and Edan Alexander, 19, from Tenafly, New Jersey. Four other Americans are believed to have been killed. It remains unclear when any of the Americans might be released.