{"id":43056,"date":"2025-02-08T12:11:08","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T17:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/hamas-makes-gaunt-israeli-hostages-thank-captors-before-release\/08\/02\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-02-08T12:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T17:11:08","slug":"hamas-makes-gaunt-israeli-hostages-thank-captors-before-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/hamas-makes-gaunt-israeli-hostages-thank-captors-before-release\/08\/02\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamas Makes Gaunt Israeli Hostages Thank Captors Before Release"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 183 Palestinians jailed by Israel, in a staged handover where rifle-toting Hamas fighters prodded their gaunt captives to give short speeches, effectively at gunpoint, thanking the militants who had held them captive for 16 months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The events made an <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/14\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-ceasefire-what-we-know.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">already tenuous cease-fire<\/a> more fragile, possibly endangering the next steps in the truce agreement. Israel is scheduled to pull back from part of Gaza on Sunday to allow Palestinians there to move more freely, but has threatened to take unspecified action in response to what it says are Hamas violations of the cease-fire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And talks on the second phase of the truce deal are supposed to be advancing now, amid deep consternation in the Arab world over <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/06\/world\/middleeast\/trump-gaza-war-hostages-cease-fire.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">President Trump\u2019s proposal<\/a> to move more than two million Gazans out of the enclave and have the United States take over the territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Hamas, the heavily choreographed hostage handover reinforced the group\u2019s message that, despite a devastating war in the Gaza Strip that killed thousands of its members and much of its leadership, the group remains in power there, defying Israeli leaders\u2019 vow to wipe it out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a statement on the hostage release, Hamas said, \u201cThis confirms that our people and their resistance have the upper hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But if Hamas saw the scene in the city of Deir al-Balah as propaganda for its claim to have treated its captives benevolently, it had the opposite effect in Israel, where many people found the images almost unbearable. Three frail, painfully thin hostages were paraded on a stage before a crowd, each holding a Hamas-issued \u201crelease certificate,\u201d and made to mouth words written for them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Gideon Saar, Israel\u2019s foreign minister, invoked the defining Jewish trauma of the last century, writing on social media, \u201cThe Israeli hostages look like Holocaust survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The spectacle on Saturday was sure to reinforce pressure from some Israelis for the government to find a way to recover all of the remaining hostages in Gaza. For others, it will bolster the view that Israel should resume the war after the first six-week phase of the cease-fire expires on March 2, rather than negotiate a long-term peace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">What happens next is far from certain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said after the releases on Saturday that he had ordered the Israeli authorities to \u201ctake appropriate action\u201d over violations of the cease-fire, but did not specify what those actions might be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Sunday, Israeli forces are scheduled to withdraw further east along a key corridor in central Gaza to enable more Palestinian freedom of movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The three Israelis released Saturday by Hamas \u2014 Eli Sharabi, 52; Or Levy, 34; and Ohad Ben Ami, 56 \u2014 were among about 250 people abducted during the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that touched off the war. About 75 have not been returned, and roughly half are believed to be dead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The cease-fire deal calls for the release over six weeks of 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight others who were killed, in exchange for more than 1,500 Palestinians held by Israel. The Palestinian prisoners include people detained in Gaza during the war but never charged with a crime and others serving life prison sentences for violent crimes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">So far, 16 living hostages and about 550 Palestinian prisoners have been released.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Palestinian prisoners, like Israeli hostages, have returned home having lost substantial amounts of weight. And like the hostages, some have recounted brutal mistreatment by those who held them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hamas and Israel are supposed to be negotiating terms for the second phase of the truce, which would end the war and free the remaining hostages. But it is not clear that the two sides can come to an agreement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel has vowed not to end the war if it leaves Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007, still in charge there. Hamas has rebuffed that demand and made repeated shows of force during the cease-fire, with heavily armed men \u2014 rarely seen in public during the fighting \u2014 patrolling the streets, and fanning out to control the streets and squares where hostages have been turned over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The three Israelis freed on Saturday were taken to hospitals in central Israel to receive medical care and be reunited with loved ones. The freed Palestinians were taken to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, or to Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, and in both locations, some were taken to hospitals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Ramallah, a huge crowd greeted the arrival of a Red Cross bus carrying freed prisoners, who are seen by many Palestinians as valiant fighters against an occupying enemy. At least some were convicted of involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis, who view them as terrorists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israeli forces raided the West Bank family homes of at least four of men before their release, warning their relatives not to celebrate their freedom. Israel has been particularly assertive in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/26\/world\/middleeast\/israel-army-palestinian-prisoners.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">suppressing celebrations<\/a> for detainees released under the current cease-fire, fearing that they may bolster the popularity of Hamas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One of the prisoners whose family home was raided was Jamal Tawil, a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank, who had been imprisoned multiple times on accusations that included planning bombings against Israel. He was taken directly to a hospital in Ramallah after his release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHe is struggling to breathe and is very weak,\u201d said his daughter, Bushra Tawil, a journalist and activist who was released in an earlier exchange last month. \u201cI was shocked when I saw him \u2014 he had been beaten on the head and other parts of his body until the very last moments before his release.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She said her family had been threatened with arrest if they publicly celebrated his return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment on her allegations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Another Palestinian whose home on the West Bank was raided, Shadi Barghouti, was serving a 27-year sentence for planning or participating in attacks, according to the Israeli Justice Ministry. Family members said his father, Fakhri Barghouti, 70, was beaten during the raid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Barghoutis, father and son, had overlapped in prison. The elder was convicted in the 1978 killing of an Israeli, but released in a 2011 prisoner deal with Hamas. Fakhri Barghouti was waiting at the Ramallah Cultural Palace when his son arrived on Saturday \u2014 the first time they had met outside of prison since 1978. They were both tearful, but smiling, as Shadi Barghouti knelt upon seeing his father.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Another released Hamas militant, Iyad Abu Shkhaydem, now 50, had been serving 18 life sentences, in part for planning the 2004 bombings of two buses in Beersheba, in central Israel, that killed 16 people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Israel, the government published footage of Mr. Levy embracing his parents and brother as they met for the first time since he was taken hostage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMy soul, we missed you so much,\u201d his mother could be heard saying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the Israeli town of Be\u2019eri, where Mr. Ben Ami and Mr. Sharabi were both abducted, residents gathered in the local pub to watch the release live on television, said Haim Jelin, a resident and former Israeli lawmaker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPeople were joyous and shouting as they were coming out of the car. But as soon as we saw them, there was total silence. People started to cry,\u201d Mr. Jelin said in an interview. \u201cIt was gut-wrenching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Hostage Families Forum, which represents relatives of the captives, issued a swift statement condemning the \u201cdistressing images\u201d from the handover, and called for the immediate release of the remaining captives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEveryone must be brought home, down to the last hostage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Reporting was contributed by <!-- -->Lara Jakes<!-- --> from Jerusalem; <!-- -->Fatima AbdulKarim<!-- --> from Ramallah, West Bank; and <!-- -->Richard P\u00e9rez-Pe\u00f1a<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/08\/world\/middleeast\/israel-hamas-hostages-prisoners.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for 183 Palestinians jailed by Israel, in a staged handover where rifle-toting Hamas<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/hamas-makes-gaunt-israeli-hostages-thank-captors-before-release\/08\/02\/2025\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}