Next Hamas hostage release BEGINS with teen Agam Berger handed over ahead of 2 more Israelis and first foreigners

After a terrifying 482 days in captivity, HAMAS has started releasing the next group of prisoners.

At the handover point in Gaza on Thursday morning, Israeli soldier Agam Berger was the first to step out onto a stage.

As directed by a terrorist recording her, the 20-year-old, who spent her birthday still under Hamas’ control, was shown waving at the throng while holding what appeared to be a certificate.

Before young Agam was eventually turned over to the Red Cross, she was encircled by armed militants.

Hamas “formality” required the humanitarian organization’s officials to sign a form before they could accept the young woman.

After a sick 15-month incarceration in the tunnels beneath Gaza, Arbel Yehud, 29, and Gadi Mozes, 80, were also released along with five other foreign captives.

read more news

Oct 7 survivor to sing at Eurovision after hiding under bodies in massacre

Netanyahu says Musk is no Nazi & blasts false smears after salute storm

In accordance with the ceasefire agreement with Israel, they are the third set of hostages to be freed from Hamas’ terror captivity.

Prior to the releases, Red Cross vehicles arrived at the two handover locations on Thursday morning.

While some of the captives were released in Jabalia, up north, others were turned over in Khan Younis, in the south.

Around nine in the morning UK time, Agam entered Israeli territory.

The liberated captives have so far been taken to a military base at the Israeli border, where they will receive preliminary medical and psychological examinations before being reunited with their relatives.

After 482 days of dread, she finally met her parents at an early welcome location in southern Israel.

At a military installation close to Re’im, her parents, Shlomi and Merav Berger, were anticipating their cherished daughter.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement: “The returning hostage, IDF soldier Agam Berger, together with her parents, just took off aboard an Israeli Air Force helicopter to make her way to the hospital, where she will receive medical treatment and be reunited with the rest of her family.”

The military had previously stated: “The commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces salute and embrace the returning hostage as she makes her way home to the State of Israel.”

The family said in a statement released by the Hostage Families Forum: “[…] We are grateful to God for bringing us to this point, when our hero, Agam, has returned to us following 482 days in enemy hands.

“Our daughter is courageous, powerful, and devout.

“Agam and I can now start the healing process, but it won’t be finished until every hostage has returned home.

Agam’s loved ones, meanwhile, were ecstatic that she was safe again.

Watching her release televised on Thursday morning, her loved ones were seen yelling with delight.

After 15 months, their suffering is finally ended as they hold banners and wear T-shirts featuring her face.

Released hostages The rescue of their friend and comrade Agam from Hamas captivity was also seen by Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, and Naama Levy.

Dozens of other Israelis celebrated today’s first release by watching the same program in Tel Aviv.

MORE HOSTAGES HANDED OVER

Around 12 p.m. local time, Israeli news channel Channel 12 announced that 80-year-old Gadi from Arbeland had been turned over to the Red Cross.

Both were detained by Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s military branch, which is the first time the terror group has released hostages under its control since the ceasefire.

A horrified Arbel was seen on camera being led by terrorists as they fought to get past an unruly crowd of bystanders who attempted to take pictures with the terrified hostage.

White vans fought to get past the agitated crowd encircling the fallen terrorist’s house, creating chaotic scenes.

The cars were surrounded by hundreds of masked, heavily armed militants who pushed onlookers away.

The Israeli Defense Forces acknowledged the transfer by saying: “According to information communicated by the Red Cross, seven hostages, including two Israelis and five foreign nationals, were transferred to them and are on their way toward IDF and ISA forces in Gaza.”

A video published on Thursday by Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas, showed Arbel and Gadi hugging one other previously at an undisclosed location.

The overwhelming chaos is similar to what happened when Israeli-Brit hostage Emily Damari was freed a few days earlier, when she stepped out of a Hamas car and was surrounded by a sea of civilians and militants.

Israel accused Hamas of violating the peace agreement just days earlier when the terrorist organization freed four female IDF soldiers instead of civilian captive Arbel.

According to the Times of Israel, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad had been calling the 29-year-old a soldier and demanding the release of more inmates in order to return her.

Local media, however, reported on Sunday that the Jihad group had consented to Arbel’s classification as a civilian.

Arbel’s family received relief from Hamas on Sunday, confirming her safety and survival.

Arbel and her partner, Ariel Cunio, were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 Hamas terror strikes, which claimed over 1,200 lives.

Last June, the remains of her brother, Dolev Yehud, who was killed by the terrorists while defending the kibbutz, were identified.

Gadi Mozes was taken from Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre and is likewise scheduled to be released after being detained by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Since his appearance in a heartbreaking Hamas propaganda film in December 2023, his family has not heard from him. Tragically, his partner, Efrat Katz, was killed in the attacks.

Agam Berger, who was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz outpost just a few months after joining the IDF, is also scheduled to be released today.

The 21-year-old’s face was covered with blood in video from the October 7 incident, but it’s not clear if that was her own blood or that of other soldiers.

Five Thai nationals who were abducted by Hamas in the same attack will also be released today, ending their ordeal as hostages.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and the terrorist organization is unrelated to their release.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, at least 31 Thai people were abducted during the horrific atrocity, and six of them are still alive in Gaza.

Surasak Lamnau, Pingsa Nattapong, Bannawat Seathao, Sathian Suwankam, Sriaoun Watchara, and Pongsak Tanna are the names of the hostages.

Israel is required to release 30 Palestinian security inmates for each civilian and 50 for Agam Berger in return for the hostages.

However, according to a separate agreement between Hamas and the Thai government, Israel is not releasing inmates in exchange for the five Thai hostages.

PREVIOUSLY RELEASED HOSTAGES

Hamas goons wearing balaclavas turned over Karina Ariev, 20, Daniela Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Elbag, 19, to the Red Cross on Saturday.

Instead of being innocent bystanders trapped in the horrific October 7 massacre, the women were all taken prisoner as Israeli troops.

The four courageous soldiers told the local media about their time in captivity by Hamas and how, upon their liberation, they bravely humiliated their terrible captors.

The women were shown smiling and waving at groups of militants and Gaza residents in the video, appearing composed and self-assured.

We demonstrated to them on stage that we were unfazed,” one of the freed prisoners told Kan TV news.

“We were unaffected by it. We are more powerful than they are.

In the initial exchange last Saturday, British national Emily Damari was also released, along with fellow Israeli prisoners Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31.

Emily was ambushed during the October 7 raid on her kibbutz, Kfar Aza, and was shot by Hamas, resulting in the loss of two fingers.

There was intense emotion as the hostages were reunited with their family in southern Israel.

However, Emily, Romi, and Doron were given Hamas “gift bags” filled with eerie keepsakes of their incarceration prior to their escape from terror hell.

The bags purportedly contained a “certificate” and pictures of the women taken while they were imprisoned, serving as a somber reminder of their dreadful 15-month ordeal in Gaza.

HOSTAGE DEATHS

According to Hamas, eight hostages who were about to be released were slain while being cruelly detained in Gaza.

Snatched on October 7, 2023, the prisoners appear to have perished in the tunnels beneath Gaza during their ill-fated 15-month imprisonment.

The first phase of a ceasefire agreement signed earlier this month called for the return of about 33 of the approximately 90 hostages to Israel.

Israel claimed that after receiving a list of the 33 that would be made public, Hamas notified it of the eight killings on Sunday evening.

The identities of the eight dead are still unknown, and Israeli prisoner families are holding out hope.

According to Hamas, the remaining 25 hostages in the exchange are still alive, and the next hostage release is scheduled for this Saturday.

Out of the 33, seven have already been sent home.

Families of the hostages have been left in an agonising wait to see whether their loved ones have survived.

BIBAS FAMILY HOPE

One of those families is the Bibas, who don’t know whether Kfir and Ariel, just two and five years old when they were snatched, are still alive.

The children, along with their parents Yarden and Shiri, are all on the list ofare on the list of hostages to be releasedin the first six-week phase of the fragile ceasefire.

Family members have not received any information regarding the family’s possible survival.

The Bibas family announced in a statement on Monday that it remained hopeful.

They said: We said then and we say now, we hold on to hope and await their return. We await certainty regarding their condition.

The list that Hamas passed on to Israel regarding the status of the kidnapped is not a list of names and does not change our position. Neither a list of names, a Hamas statement, nor any video of this or that kind are certain for us.

Last year,Hamas claimed that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir had been killedin an Israeli air strike something Israel has not confirmed.

The Bibas family said their “world came crashing down after theysaw that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were not on the listto be freed on Saturday.

The terms of the deal state children and female captives would be released first.

Israel accused Hamas of breaching the peace deal after the terror group released four women IDF soldiers instead of civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud.

In response, Hamas pledged to release two more woman, but did not again mention Shiri Bibas and her children.

DISPLACED PALESTINIANS

The first phase of the ceasefire runs until early March and will see 33 hostages released by Hamas and 2,000 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel.

The exchanged come as thousands of displaced Palestinians are returning home to the north of war-ravaged Gaza.

Israel had prevented Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the terms of the truce, butPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’soffice said late Sunday they would be allowed to pass after a new agreement was reached.

Israel had said it would prevent Palestinians’ passage to the north until the release of Arbel Yehud, a civilian woman hostage who it maintained should have been freed on Saturday.

But Netanyahu’s office later said a deal had been reached for the release of three hostages on Thursday, including Yehud, as well as another three on Saturday.

Hamas had said blocking the return of Palestinians amounted to a truce violation.

Read More on The US Sun

Trump to send 30,000 criminal illegal immigrants to Guantanamo Bay

Blake Lively invited to Taylor Swift Super Bowl box despite Baldoni fallout

Large crowds of people moved through the now-open Netzarim Corridor into the north, watched over by Israeli tanks.

Some pulled carts weighed down with mattresses and other essentials while others carried what belongings they could.

What happened on October 7?

ON OCTOBER 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel, marking one of the darkest days in the nation s history.

Terrorists stormed across the border from Gaza, killing over 1,200 people most of them civilians and kidnapping 250 others, including women, children, and the elderly.

The coordinated assault saw heavily armed fighters infiltrate Israeli towns, kibbutzim, and military bases, unleashing indiscriminate violence.

Innocent families were slaughtered in their homes, and graphic footage of the atrocities spread across social media, leaving the world in shock.

And as well as attacking people in their homes, they stormed the Nova music peace festival – killing at least 364 people there alone.

The massacre triggered a swift and massive retaliatory response from Israel, escalating into a full-scale war.

The attack not only reignited long-standing tensions in the region but also left deep scars on both sides of the conflict, setting the stage for the 15 months of devastation that followed.