The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the images of three freed hostages in Gaza were "shocking".
"The shocking images that we have seen today will not go unaddressed," the office said in a statement after Hamas fighters brought the three pale-looking hostages onto a stage before handing them over to the Red Cross.
They were made to speak during a carefully orchestrated release ceremony surrounded by gunmen.
According to Hamas and Israel, the hostages are Eli Sharabi, 52; Ohad Ben Ami, 56; and Or Levy, 34. All were abducted during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war after some 1,200 people were killed.
A ceasefire paused the 15-month war in the Gaza Strip where Israel's retaliatory attack has killed more than 47,000 people, over half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, said the hostages spent "491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained" and were "being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle."
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the "difficult scenes" were reason to extend the truce with Hamas and bring home the dozens of remaining hostages.
