Live Updates: Israel Clears Way for Prisoner Release After Chaotic Hostage Handover

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said after that tumult that he had suspended the prisoners’ release until cease-fire mediators — which included Qatar, Egypt and the United States — secured guarantees from Hamas of “the safe exit of our hostages in the next rounds.” The government later said that mediators had promised safe passages in future releases.

The Palestinian prisoners are to be freed as part of the third hostage-for-prisoner swap in the ongoing cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. During the first 42 days of the agreement, Hamas pledged to free at least 33 hostages in exchange for over 1,500 Palestinians jailed by Israel.

On Thursday, large numbers of Palestinians gathered before the hostage release in Khan Younis near the home of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza who was killed by Israel in October. A small white van surrounded by armed gunmen slowly pushed its way through yelling crowds of people seeking any glimpse of the captives.

The militants later carved a path through the surging crowd as many pushed their way to the front with cameras. Photos and video showed hostages walking through the chaotic crowd. In one video, Arbel Yehud, 29, one of the last living female hostages, at times appeared afraid while surrounded by rifle-wielding militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad as they made their way toward the Red Cross convoy that would take her to Israeli soldiers.

Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel is to release 110 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday, including 32 serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis. One of them is Zakaria Zubeidi, who was a prominent militant in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank during the second intifada. He joined a 2021 prison break before being arrested again.

Here’s what else to know:

• A closer look: The three released Israeli hostages include a young Israeli army lookout, an 80-year-old farming expert and a woman who worked as a guide at a space and technology center.

• Thai hostages: The Thai hostages were abducted during the Hamas-led attack in 2023 from four farms close to the Gaza border, where they were agricultural workers. Dozens of Thai farmworkers were kidnapped or killed during the assault, making them the second-largest group of victims in the Oct. 7 attack, after Israelis.

• Exiled prisoners: About 20 of the Palestinian prisoners are set to be expelled abroad and will not be allowed to return to their homes in the West Bank or Jerusalem, according to the Hamas-linked prisoners’ office. Expelled prisoners can head to the Gaza Strip or leave for Egypt, where discussions over their final destination are ongoing, according to the Palestinian commissioner for prisoners’ affairs.

Mr. Pongsak was among five Thai hostages who were released on Thursday. Working on farms in often dangerous parts of Israel, Thai farmhands suffered a heavy toll in the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. At least 39 were killed, and at least 31 were taken hostage, according to an earlier tally from the Thai foreign ministry.

In November 2023, 23 of those hostages were released. Two more died in captivity, the Thai foreign ministry said last May. (On Thursday evening, a Thai foreign ministry official said that the total fatalities were 46, but it was not clear whether that number referred only to the Oct. 7 attacks.)

The hostages released on Thursday were Mr. Pongsak, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao and Surasak Lamnao​. The fate of one remaining Thai hostage, Nattapong Pinta, is not clear.

Mr. Vilas, Mr. Pongsak’s father, said he planned to go to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, to meet the plane carrying his son, although costs can be prohibitive.

Thai hostages in a previous round of releases in November 2023 said they had to initially pay for their flights from Bangkok back to their home provinces. Thai labor officials say they have since disbursed funds to returned workers.

Economic hardship has spurred thousands of Thais, particularly from the Isaan region of northeastern Thailand, to take agricultural jobs in Israel, despite the risks. Besides those who lost their lives in the Oct. 7 killing attack, other Thai farmworkers have been killed over the years in rocket attacks on Israel, including in October.

But the money earned in Israel can be life-changing, and villages in Isaan are dotted with modern houses built from these overseas earnings. Some workers who suffered through the Oct. 7 attacks have since gone back to Israel to finish out their contracts.

Wiwwaeo Sriaoun, the mother of Mr. Watchara, another of the five Thais released on Thursday, was gathered at home with a gaggle of relatives when she heard of his return.

She, too, spoke of tears of joy. As her family cheered around her, Ms. Wiwwaeo’s voice rose to an excited yell.

“I hope he can come home safely,” she said.

But she was not sure whether she could afford to go to Bangkok to meet her son.

For now, she said, she was happy to see her son’s name on the TV screen among those who were finally free.

The hostage release is part of a 42-day cease-fire deal that went into effect this month, pausing the fighting between Israel and Hamas. Hamas agreed to incrementally release 33 of the nearly 100 remaining hostages in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians jailed by Israel and a partial Israeli withdrawal.

Here’s a closer look at the Israelis released on Thursday.

Agam Berger

Ms. Berger was 19 and recently assigned as a lookout when Hamas-led militants stormed the Nahal Oz army base where she was working, killing more than 50 soldiers and abducting her and six other soldiers. Four of them were earlier released in an exchange on Saturday.

Ms. Berger’s mother, Meirav, said she last saw her daughter when they dropped her off at the base on Oct. 5, 2023, two days before the attack. According to a website created by her family, and her parents’ accounts in Israeli news media, Ms. Berger called her parents in the middle of the attack, using the phone of a friend who was killed next to her. She told them that she could hear shots being fired and that people were crying, but that she was not afraid, according to the website.

In November 2023, Agam Goldstein-Almog, who was taken captive with her daughter and two sons and was released as part of the first cease-fire deal, said that she had been held in a tunnel with Ms. Berger and the other soldiers serving as lookouts who had been captured. She said that Ms. Berger was praying a lot, and seemed to be in good spirits.

In August, Ms. Berger’s family held an event to mark her birthday at Tel Aviv’s Anu Museum of the Jewish People, centered on music because she is passionate about music and plays the violin. She has a twin sister and two other siblings.

Gadi Moses

Gadi Moses, a farming expert, was abducted in Kibbutz Nir Oz after stepping out of his home to try to reason with the militants.

His partner, Efrat Katz, hid inside a safe room in their home with her daughter and two visiting grandchildren, before they were also taken by militants. Their kidnapping was captured on video that showed them squashed in the back of a pickup truck.

Ms. Katz was killed when an Israeli helicopter, responding to the Hamas-led assault, fired on the vehicle in which she was being held. Her daughter and grandchildren were released during the November 2023 cease-fire.

Mr. Moses, then 79, was seen in December of 2023 in a video released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, calling on Israel to work for his release. The family said in September that they had had no word of his fate since.

Arbel Yehud

Arbel Yehud was 28 when she was taken hostage along with her boyfriend, Ariel Cunio, from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel. Mr. Cunio is believed to still be held captive. Her brother, Dolev Yehud, a medic, was thought to be a hostage as well but was identified last year as having been killed during the Oct. 7 attack.

Ms. Yehud’s family has described her as passionate about space and astronomy and said she had worked as a guide at a space and technology center.

In February, her father, Yechi Yehud, told The Daily Mail that he had been avoiding watching or reading any news so as not to raise his hopes for a deal. Her mother, Yael Yehud, described herself as “broken” and said she often imagined her children walking through the door again.

On Ms. Yehud’s 29th birthday in June, her close friend, Shani Goren, who had been a hostage and was released in the first cease-fire deal, spoke at a rally in Tel Aviv and described the difficulty of recovering.

“Every day I wake up, I’m still held hostage,” she said. “Because until Arbel and everyone else return home, we can’t even begin to discuss rehabilitation and moving forward. I know. I was there.”

Ms. Yehud had been expected to be released on Saturday, prompting one of the most significant disputes between Israel and Hamas since the start of the cease-fire.

Israeli officials had said they believed she was not being held by Hamas, and had suggested that another militant group was responsible for the holdup in her release. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Monday released a video, which an analysis by The New York Times dates to Jan. 25, in which she says, “My family, I’m OK. I miss you endlessly and I hope to return to you soon, like the girls who had been released.”

Rights groups and international law experts have noted that, by definition, such hostage videos are made under duress, and that the statements in them are usually coerced.

All seven have crossed into Israeli territory, according to the Israeli military. Ms. Yehud and Mr. Moses will soon be reunited with their families, while the five Thai hostages will be met by Thai government officials, the military said.

The crowd in Tel Aviv had been watching in trepidation as the chaotic scenes of the latest handover in Gaza were projected on screens in the square.

This handover is in stark contrast to the one that took place in northern Gaza this morning, which was highly choreographed and controlled.

“Is there any news yet?” asked Wiwwaeo Sriaoun, the mother of Watchara Sriaoun, one of the remaining Thai hostages. “We are happy but also anxious waiting for the names to come out.”

Neither Israel nor Hamas have named the Thai hostages due to be released on Thursday.

Like the other 30,000 Thai farmworkers laboring in Israel before the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, Mr. Watchara had grown accustomed to nurturing produce in what sometimes turned into a battle zone, his mother said.

At least 39 Thai agricultural workers were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, and at least 31 were taken hostage, according to the Thai foreign ministry. Of the 31 hostages, at least two died in captivity, Thai officials said. During a cease-fire in November 2023, 23 Thai hostages were released.

Vilas Thanna, the father of Pongsak Thanna, another Thai hostage, said he hoped that his son, a fruit tender, might be one of the five to be released on Thursday. The family, including Mr. Pongsak’s 14-year-old daughter and many other relatives, had gathered in an excited throng at his home in Buriram, in Isaan.

“I am very super duper happy, so excited,” Mr. Vilas said. “I couldn’t sleep since last night.”

The fate of the sixth Thai hostage believed to be in Gaza is unclear. While Thai government officials have said he is alive, Thai and Israeli workers charged with taking care of the released hostages say they have been told he has died.

Despite the dangers, Thai farmhands have continued to tend fields in Israel. Among them are some who suffered through the Hamas-led killing spree 15 months ago.

In October, four Thais were killed by Hezbollah rockets in northern Israel. The same month, another Thai was killed near the Israel-Lebanon border when unexploded ordnance detonated in an orchard.