Israel Delays Prisoner Release after Chaotic Hostage Handover

Palestinian militants surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinian militants surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Israel Delays Prisoner Release after Chaotic Hostage Handover

Palestinian militants surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinian militants surround hostage Arbel Yehoud, held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, on the day they hand her over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Hamas handed over three Israelis and five Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday, but Israel delayed the expected release of Palestinian prisoners after chaotic scenes at one of the handover points, where large crowds swarmed around the captives.

Arbel Yehud, 29, abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, looked fearful and struggled to walk through a surging crowd as armed militants handed her to the Red Cross in a tense scene in the southern city of Khan Younis, Reuters reported.

Another Israeli hostage, Gadi Moses, 80, was also released along with five Thai nationals working on Israeli farms near Gaza when the militants burst through the border fence, the Israeli military said.

The mother of one of the Thais watched a livestream of the scene anxiously from her home in the northeastern Udon Thani province.

"Please, let my son walk out now, I want to see his face," Wiwwaro Sriaoun, 53, said as the footage on her phone showed a vehicle moving slowly through the crowd.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the sight of their handover amid the swarming crowds was shocking and threatened death to anyone hurting hostages. He urged mediators to ensure the scene would not be repeated.

A total of 110 Palestinian prisoners were expected to be freed on Thursday as part of the phased agreement that halted fighting in the shattered coastal territory earlier this month.

An Israeli official involved in the operation said buses carrying the detainees had been instructed to return to prisons in an apparent response to the chaotic handover.

Netanyahu and the Defense Minister Israel Katz said they had ordered the delay in releases "until the safe exit of our hostages in the next phases is assured".

An Israeli official said later that understandings had been reached, and Palestinian prisoners would be released at 1700 (1500 GMT). A Palestinian source said the Red Cross had told Hamas the Palestinian prisoners would be released on Thursday.

Earlier, in Jabalia in northern Gaza, an Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, wearing an olive green uniform, was led through a narrow alley between heavily damaged buildings and over piles of rubble before being handed to the Red Cross.

Netanyahu has faced criticism in Israel for not having sealed a hostage deal earlier after the security failure that enabled the Oct. 7 Hamas assault.



Sudan's RSF, Allies Sign Charter for Rival Government

The Sudan war has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises - AFP
The Sudan war has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises - AFP
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Sudan's RSF, Allies Sign Charter for Rival Government

The Sudan war has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises - AFP
The Sudan war has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's worst hunger and displacement crises - AFP

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces and its allies have agreed to form a parallel government, they said Sunday, despite warnings such a move could further fragment the war-ravaged country.

"The charter has been signed," Najm al-Din Drisa, spokesman of the United Civil Forces, one of the signatories, told AFP.

The parties to the agreement, inked behind closed doors in Nairobi, said the charter establishes a "government of peace and unity" in rebel-controlled areas of the northeast African country.

The move comes nearly two years into a devastating war with the regular army that has uprooted more than 12 million people and caused what the United Nations calls the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
Among those who agreed to it was a faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, which controls parts of the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in the country's south.

Abdel Rahim Daglo, deputy and brother of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo -- who was notably absent -- also signed.

The charter, seen by AFP, calls for "a secular, democratic, decentralized state based on freedom, equality, and justice, without bias toward any cultural, ethnic, religious, or regional identity".

It also outlines plans for a "new, unified, professional, national army" with a new military doctrine that "reflects the diversity and plurality characterizing the Sudanese state".

The proposed government aims to end the war, ensure unhindered humanitarian aid and integrate armed groups into a single, national force.

The war, originally triggered by disputes over integrating the RSF into the military, has killed tens of thousands, with both sides accused of atrocities.

Last month, the US determined the RSF had committed genocide in the western region of Darfur.

The conflict has torn the country in two, with the army controlling the north and east and the RSF holding nearly all of Darfur and swathes of the south.

The army is currently on the verge of recapturing the capital Khartoum, after surging through central Sudan and regaining territory this year.

In its alliance with the SPLM-N, the RSF side now controls more of the south and has border access to Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the move could "increase the fragmentation of the country and risk making this crisis even worse".

But the charter's signatories denied any intentions to divide the country.

Alaa El-Din Nuqd, a signatory representing professional unions, said the proposed government would benefit people in RSF-held areas "who have been cut off from essential services".

Nuqd said the charter was a step toward "protecting the dignity" of war-hit civilians.

Analysts say the move is aimed at strengthening the RSF after their recent battlefield setbacks.

Sudanese political analyst Kholood Khair said the RSF's ultimate goals were to acquire an air force, facilitate humanitarian aid to areas under its control and secure a stronger negotiation position.

"They want to go into mediations as a government, not a militia," she told AFP.

However, any arms sales to the potential government would still be in violation of a Darfur embargo which the United Nations has recommended expanding to cover all of Sudan.