Hamas freed three more Israeli hostages Saturday and Israel responded with the release of 183 Palestinian prisoners in the latest exchange of hostages for prisoners as part of the first phase of a fragile ceasefire deal.
This is the fifth exchange since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect last month. It comes as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to promote his plan to take ownership of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, five Thai workers who spent more than a year as hostages arrived in Bangkok on Sunday. The five were met by family members, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sagniampongsa and Israel’s ambassador to Thailand, Orna Sagiv, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport.
The physical condition of the three newly released hostages shocked Israelis. Released were Eli Sharabi, 52, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, both taken hostage from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm, and Or Levy, 34, who was abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.
The three were gaunt and looked frail, and Hamas militants forced them to speak at the handover ceremony.
"Dad, is it really you?" asked one of Ben Ami's daughters. "I left XXL and came back medium," he joked, according to Agence Presse-France. Israeli doctors noted severe malnutrition and significant weight loss in the three men.
"If anyone had any doubt about how urgent it is to bring everyone back ... today we got a wake-up call," Moshe Or, brother of hostage Avinatan Or, told a weekly rally in Tel Aviv.
Some of the prisoners released later Saturday by Israel also appeared weak and gaunt. The Red Cross reported taking seven to hospitals.
Of the 183 released Palestinians, 18 had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and 54 were serving long sentences for what Israel says was their involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. Some have been in jail for two decades. In the West Bank town of Beitunia, whistling crowds greeted the released prisoners as heroes, waving flags and chanting support for Hamas.
Additionally, among those released were 111 Palestinians from Gaza who were captured after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, which triggered the war in Gaza. They were detained without trial, and the Red Cross brought them to the European Hospital in Gaza's southern town of Khan Younis, where scores of people poured into the streets in celebration.
About 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel and about 250 taken hostage. Israel's counteroffensive has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians. Israel's military says the death toll includes 17,000 militants it has killed.
Some of the released men fell to their knees after getting off the bus, crying and kissing the ground. Emotional relatives were there to greet them before they returned to their homes in the West Bank.
"We've been waiting. And waiting is the most painful thing, it wears on the nerves," said Samah Abu Aliya, whose 34-year-old son, Imad Abu Aliya, was freed Saturday after serving 4½ half years for his affiliation with Hamas.
Hamas has been designated as a terror group by the U.S., Britain and other Western nations.
Seven of those convicted of the most serious crimes were transferred to Egypt. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, they either will stay in that country or be deported elsewhere.
During the first phase of the ceasefire, set to last six weeks, Hamas is to gradually free 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. So far, 16 Israeli hostages and five Thai workers abducted during the Hamas attack have been freed in exchange for some 600 mostly Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.
The exchange Saturday follows Trump's proposal to clear Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants and for the U.S. to take ownership of the territory. Trump told reporters Friday at the White House before a meeting with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba his plan should be viewed as a real estate transaction but offered no timetable for the plan, saying "we're in no rush on it."
Responding to a question about the proposal, Trump said his plan has been "very well received," and as he envisioned it, there would be no need for the United States to have "boots on the ground" in the region because Israel would provide security.
Trump first announced his Gaza takeover plan earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a White House news conference. Later, on his Truth Social platform, Trump suggested Israel should turn the Gaza Strip over to the United States after the war with Hamas ends.
The plan has been widely assailed by U.S. allies and adversaries alike, many of whom remain committed to the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, known as the "two-state solution."
A large street protest was held in Amman, Jordan, on Friday in opposition to the plan. At the demonstration, organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition parties, marchers carried posters and a banner condemning Trump and chanting pro- Palestinian slogans.
On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called Trump's idea a "bold plan," and said he has ordered the Israel Defense Forces to devise a plan for Palestinians to voluntarily leave the Gaza Strip, adding they could go "to any country willing to accept them."
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
