AP photos capture a day of wrenching emotion as Israel and Hamas release hostages and prisoners
It was a day of wrenching emotions: Relief, joy, anger and trauma all spilled out as Hamas released a new round of hostages and Israel freed more Palestinians from its prisons.
In the latest in the series of exchanges under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal Thursday, three Israeli hostages, five Thai workers who had also been held captive by militants in Gaza and 110 Palestinians were freed.
Friends of Arbel Yehoud gripped each other's hands, tears in their eyes, as they gathered at a home in southern Israel to watch on TV as the 29-year-old emerged surrounded by masked Hamas fighters with their green headbands and automatic rifles.
After more than 470 days of captivity, Yehoud looked stunned, surrounded by a giant crowd of Palestinians in the ruins of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis gathered to witness her handover. The fighters marched her through the crowd to vehicles of the Red Cross. The scenes were similar as militants freed Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man, and female soldier Agam Berger, 20.
Since the ceasefire began, Hamas has turned each round of hostage releases into a combination of spectacle and ceremony with large crowds, flags and stages. For the militants, it's a chance to show off their survival as a fighting force to Israelis and Palestinians alike, as well as to highlight the devastation wreaked by Israel in Gaza during its 15-month campaign of retaliation over the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks in which the hostages were snatched.
But the images of hostages being led through the crowds have unnerved and angered Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the 'shocking scenes' and called on international mediators to ensure the safety of hostages in future releases — a commitment he said he later received.
For more than 15 months, Israelis have been riveted by the ordeals of the hostages. Each release has brought an outpouring of relief, intertwined with frustration and sorrow over the dozens who remain captive.
For Palestinians, the releases of those imprisoned by Israel bring an end to years of separation. Palestinians view the prisoners released as heroes who have sacrificed for the cause of ending Israel's decades-long occupation of their land.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, a cheering crowd lifted Zakaria Zubeidi onto their shoulders after his release. Zubeidi thrilled Palestinians – and stunned the Israeli security establishment – with a dramatic jailbreak alongside other prisoners in 2021, though they were all soon recaptured.
Zubeidi once headed an armed militia and was imprisoned in the early 2000s for attacks on Israelis. After serving his time, he said he set aside militancy for political activism and opened a theater for 'cultural resistance' in the Jenin refugee camp. Israel arrested him again in 2019 for alleged involvement in attacks on settlers, though in the six years since he was not tried.
Those released included 30 serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis, all but seven of whom were immediately sent into exile.
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