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First Israeli soldier seen waving after release by Hamas
A female Israeli soldier has been seen waving from a podium set up at the hostage handover location in Gaza, reports Reuters. Live TV showed the soldier being led by armed men to the stage, according to the news agency.
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At a gathering in Tel Aviv, people cheered, clapped and whistled as they saw images of Agam Berger being released on a TV screen, next to a large clock that’s counted the days the hostages have been in captivity, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Some held signs saying “Agam we’re waiting for you at home”.
Here is an image of the Israel soldier Agam Berger who has just been handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross in Gaza’s Jabalia.
The Israeli military have confirmed that the Red Cross received an Israeli hostage in Gaza, reports Reuters.
More details soon …
First Israeli soldier seen waving after release by Hamas
A female Israeli soldier has been seen waving from a podium set up at the hostage handover location in Gaza, reports Reuters. Live TV showed the soldier being led by armed men to the stage, according to the news agency.
Here are a couple of images that have come in via the newswires:
Red Cross vehicles arrive at hostage handover point in Gaza
Live TV shows Red Cross vehicles arriving at the hostage handover point in Gaza, reports Reuters.
Earlier, militants from Hamas and allied groups Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees arrived at the site in Khan Younis ahead of the handover of Israeli hostages, according to Hamas sources and witnesses.
According to Reuters, the spokesperson of the Islamic Jihad armed wing said on the Telegram platform that the group “completed procedures to hand over two Israeli hostages”.
Three Israeli and five Thai hostages to be released under ceasefire deal
Three Israeli hostages are to be released on Thursday under the terms of the ceasefire deal with Hamas have been named as Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 20, and Gadi Mozes, 80. Five Thai nationals will also be released, although their names have not been publicly released. In exchange, Israel will free 110 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 minors, according to NGO the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
The main UN agency serving Palestinians in the occupied territories, including Gaza, looks set to be shut down on Thursday as Israel defied widespread international support for the agency in a move Unrwa predicted would “sabotage Gaza’s recovery and political transition”.
And for a third straight day, thousands of Palestinians in southern Gaza trekked by foot, motorbike and animal-drawn carts back to their homes in the war-ravaged north after Israeli forces withdrew from the two main roads earlier this week.
The column of people stretched for miles along Gaza’s coastal road on Wednesday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that over 376,000 Palestinians had reached northern Gaza from the south.
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