Middle East latest: Hostage releases  begin in Gaza Strip

Middle East latest: Hostage releases  begin in Gaza Strip
Middle East latest: Hostage releases  begin in Gaza Strip
DEIR AL-BALAH, Jan 30: Militants led Israeli hostage Arbel Yehoud through a chaotic crowd in Gaza ahead of her release, hours after Hamas handed a captive Israeli soldier over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip. Yehoud is the second hostage to be released on Thursday out of eight planned as part of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
  Hamas is set to free one more Israeli hostage as well as five Thai captives, and Israel is to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners, in the third such exchange since fighting paused earlier this month.
Yehoud was at the centre of the dispute about the sequence of releases that briefly rocked the ceasefire over the weekend. Israel says she was supposed to have been freed Saturday and delayed the opening of crossings to northern Gaza when she was not.
The tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is aimed at ending the war in Gaza and securing the release of dozens of hostages held by the militant group, as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned or detained by Israel.
Under the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have jubilantly returned to northern Gaza over the past three days. However, their homecoming has been bittersweet as nearly everyone has friends or relatives who died, and many northern neighborhoods have been transformed into an apocalyptic landscape of devastation by more than 15 months of war.
Here’s the latest:
Israel protests chaotic scenes surrounded hostage release
Israeli officials have filed an angry complaint to international mediators over chaotic scenes surrounding the release of hostages.
An Israeli official confirmed the protest, speaking on condition of anonymity because the release was still taking place.
Militants lead second hostage through crowd ahead of release
Militants led Israeli hostage Arbel Yehoud through a chaotic crowd in Gaza ahead of her release, hours after Hamas handed a captive Israeli soldier over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip.
Yehoud was at the center of the dispute about the sequence of releases that briefly rocked the ceasefire over the weekend. Israel says she was supposed to have been freed Saturday and delayed the opening of crossings to northern Gaza when she was not.
Israelis watch anxiously as friend nears departure from Gaza
A group of friends of Arbel Yehoud, a hostage set to be released Thursday, watched in tears and worried silence as the Israeli hostage appeared to be freed, surrounded by a large crowd of Palestinians.
The friends sat in anxious silence at a private home in southern Israel as they watched a TV showing the large crowd of Palestinians gathered at the release point in Gaza. Some cried, others had their hands over their eyes or mouths.
When a news anchor said the situation appeared dangerous, one yelled at her to “shut up.”
People began crying when Yehoud was seen walking through the crowd, escorted by gunmen, followed by reports that she had been turned over to the Red Cross.
Most of the 20 or so people were survivors of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, including three former hostages released in a November 2023 ceasefire.
Thai ambassador says she’s holding her breath’
Thailand’s ambassador to Israel said she was “holding her breath” along with the entire country of Israel for the release of five Thai agricultural workers who were kidnapped on Oct. 7.
“We have nothing to do with this conflict, they just happened to be there, and they are working tirelessly on the farms and kibbutzes,” said Ambassador Pannabha Chandraramya as she watched footage from Gaza at the Israeli hospital where the Thai workers will be brought upon their return to Israel.
She added that despite the war, Thai agricultural workers are continuing to come to Israel. Prior to the attack, less than 30,000 Thai workers were in Israel, mostly in the agricultural sector, and that number has grown to 38,000 today.
Chandraramya said the Thai government had notified the families of all six surviving Thai hostages, because they are not sure which five will be released. The bodies of another two Thai hostages who were killed on Oct. 7, 2023 are also being held in Gaza.
The Shamir Medical Center, outside of Tel Aviv, has a number of Thai-speaking social workers and psychologists to assist the hostages being released.
Israel says it intercepted Hezbollah surveillance drone
The Israeli military says it has intercepted a surveillance drone launched toward Israeli airspace by the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire in late November that ended some 14 months of fighting. Under the deal, both sides were to withdraw forces from southern Lebanon within 60 days.
The deadline passed this week with Israeli troops still in Lebanon. But the US said the sides had agreed to extend the ceasefire through Feb. 18 while Israel continues its withdrawal.
Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly accused each other of violating the deal. (AP)