Israel releases prisoners after chaotic hostage handover
Israel has released more than 100 Palestinian prisoners including some convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis in exchange for hostages held in the Gaza Strip after a chaotic Hamas-led hostage handover in Gaza cast doubt on whether it would go ahead.

File Source:ABC
Israel has released more than 100 Palestinian prisoners including some convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis in exchange for hostages held in the Gaza Strip after a chaotic Hamas-led hostage handover in Gaza cast doubt on whether it would go ahead.
Hamas released eight Israeli and Thai hostages after a year in captivity, including one in a tightly choreographed ceremony in northern Gaza that went relatively smoothly. But in **Chaos Marks Hostage Handover as Israel Releases 110 Palestinian Prisoners**
In a high-stakes exchange, Israel freed over 100 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday, including individuals convicted of deadly attacks on Israelis, in return for hostages held in Gaza. The swap followed a chaotic handover orchestrated by Hamas, which released eight Israeli and Thai hostages after a year of captivity.
The first part of the exchange, a carefully staged ceremony in northern Gaza, proceeded smoothly. However, tensions flared when the handover in Khan Younis descended into disorder. Hostages were swarmed by large crowds, including some chanting support for Hamas and other armed groups. Amid the chaos, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the prisoner release, demanding guarantees from mediators—Qatar, Egypt, and the United States—that the hostages would be safely released in subsequent rounds.
The Israeli government later confirmed that these assurances had been secured. Soon after, buses carrying 110 Palestinian prisoners were seen departing Ofer prison in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. These prisoners were part of the third exchange in the ongoing ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which has so far seen the release of over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners.
The scenes in Khan Younis were marked by mass gatherings, with many Palestinians gathering near the home of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ leader in Gaza, who was killed by Israeli forces in October. The handover itself was tumultuous, with armed militants carving a path through the throngs, as hostages, including Arbel Yehud, a 29-year-old Israeli woman, navigated through the crowd, flanked by rifle-wielding militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, Israel was to release 110 Palestinian prisoners, including 32 serving life sentences for deadly attacks. One of the notable names is Zakaria Zubeidi, a prominent militant from the West Bank’s northern regions, who was involved in a 2021 prison break before being captured again.