Benjamin Netanyahu blasts horrific scenes of angry mobs at chaotic hostage handover in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the “horrific” scenes during the chaotic hostage handover in Gaza — as the Jewish state then delayed the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners that were scheduled to be swapped in response.“I view with great severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu fumed.“This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organization.”The leader demanded that mediators “ensure that such horrific scenes do not occur again” in future exchanges — and threatened retaliation if any captives were harmed.The release of three Israeli and five Thai hostages, who had been held in Hamas’ custody for more than 481 days, was delayed by a screaming crowd of Palestinians who surrounded and jeered at them, pushing and shoving to get closer, video shows.According to the terms of the 42-day cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, Israel was expected to release 110 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday — however Israeli officials said they were withholding their release.“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, have ordered the delay in the release of the terrorists scheduled to be released today – until the safe exit of our hostages is guaranteed in the next few days,” the prime minister’s spokesperson, Omer Dostri, said in a statement.An Egyptian official confirmed that the Palestinian prisoners would be released later Thursday, around 5 p.m.
local time, CNN reported.Hours after the first hostage, female Israeli soldier Agam Berger was released in northern Gaza, chaos erupted as thousands of Palestinians encircled the handover site in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis – just outside of the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.Hundreds of militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group showed up in force and thousands of people gathered to watch, with some standing on the roofs of destroyed h...