Will Next Releases of Hostages in Gaza Be Handled Smoothly?

CGTN Europe

Israel delayed the release of Palestinian prisoners by three hours after chaotic scenes during the hostage handover in Gaza.   Prime Minister Netanyahu insisted on safer exchanges.   Among those freed were three Israeli hostages, including 80-year-old Gadi Moses, and five Thai nationals. T  he next release is expected in 48 hours.  Jonathan Regev reports from Tel Aviv.  #Israel #Gaza

Transcript

00:00So we are now learning that this release will actually begin at 5 o'clock local time,

00:06that is just under an hour from now.

00:09That is a three-hour delay. It was supposed to begin earlier in the day.

00:13The Israeli prime minister's office earlier in the day

00:16sending a very concerned message regarding the way that the release was handled today.

00:23The second release, we have to say, when the soldier was released in the morning,

00:26it was relatively calm, as was in previous cases.

00:29But the afternoon release was very chaotic.

00:33Just making the few steps from the Hamas vehicle into the Red Cross vehicle

00:39was a terrible ordeal for the two Israelis, Gadi Moses and Yehud Arbel,

00:46and the five Thai nationals.

00:48Just as you mentioned, they were swarmed with people around them

00:53and it was difficult to make that very short journey.

00:58And then it was difficult for the Red Cross vehicles to make their way.

01:01Eventually they did, and Israel wants to make sure that this does not happen anymore.

01:06Apparently there are some guarantees from the mediators,

01:09especially from Qatar, which is the closest mediator to Hamas.

01:13There are guarantees that the next releases will not be seen like this anymore.

01:19This will be put to the test quite quickly,

01:22as the next release is expected in less than 48 hours on Saturday morning.

01:26Once some kind of an understanding has been achieved,

01:29we're now learning that Israel will now release the 110 hostages set to be released today.

01:36And that release is set to begin, as mentioned, at 5 o'clock local time,

01:40that is in just about 15 minutes from now.

01:42Jonathan, regardless of the delays and the difficulties surrounding the delays,

01:46Israeli families, or some Israeli families, are clearly delighted by the return of their loved ones.

01:53Absolutely. Three more families are getting their loved ones today.

01:58First was the Gamberger, the soldier.

02:01Her four other soldier friends were released on Saturday.

02:04Out of the soldiers, she was left alone in Gaza.

02:07And today they reunited, all five of them, just minutes ago at the hospital in central Israel.

02:15So a clear relief for her and for her family.

02:20Later on in the day, some three hours later, two more hostages, two more Israeli hostages were released.

02:26Gadi Moses, an 80-year-old man, surviving this ordeal, 15 months of captivity,

02:33he's now back to his family in Israel.

02:35And Arbelia Hood, she was meant to be released on a Saturday.

02:39She's a civilian, not a soldier.

02:41And due to the crisis that erupted on Saturday, due to the fact that she was not on the list,

02:46this release happened today on Thursday instead of Saturday, and on Saturday we will see another release.

02:53Of course, a lot of happiness, a lot of joy in Israel.

02:58It will, of course, look a little bit different.

03:00As we just mentioned, less than an hour from now, the prisoners will be released.

03:04And this is very uneasy for other Israeli families to see the murderers of their loved ones being released.

03:11They were supposed to spend the rest of their lives in prison, but it is not happening.

03:15A great reward with the hostages coming back, but coming with a great price of releasing many, many Palestinian prisoners.

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