Hamas handed Agam Berger over to Israel, the first of eight hostages expected to be released from Gaza on Thursday.
In exchange, Israel is set to release 110 Palestinian prisoners, including about 30 people serving life sentences, in the third swap since the Gaza cease-fire and hostages agreement came into effect earlier this month.
The cease-fire aims to end the most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, who killed more than 1,000 people in Israel in an attack on Oct. 7, 2023. The group also took some 250 hostages into Gaza.
In response, Israel has waged a massive retaliatory assault on Gaza, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving swaths of the coastal enclave in ruins.
The 20-year-old Israeli soldier Berger, whose release was confirmed by the Israeli government, was serving as a lookout at the Nahal Oz military base when she was abducted during the Oct. 7 attack.
Before her release, Berger was presented by the Al-Qassam Brigades with a certificate bearing their emblem commemorating the cease-fire agreement on a stage set up in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, where people are expected to celebrate the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The release is also being broadcast at a public square in Tel Aviv, where the crowd cheered, clapped and whistled as they watched Berger’s handover on big screens next to a large clock that’s counted the days the hostages have been in captivity, the AP reported.
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