Shock over trios’ gaunt, frail photos | President Isaac Herzog says, ‘This is what a crime against humanity looks like! Netanyahu promises action

Agencies GAZA/JERUSALEM/CAIRO

Palestinian militant group Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages on Saturday, whose emaciated appearance shocked Israelis following their release on live TV, as  part of the ceasefire deal aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza.

Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi were taken hostage from Kibbutz Be'eri during the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and Or Levy was taken that day from the Nova music festival. The trio, surrounded by several armed Hamas fighters, were handed over to the  International Committee of the Red Cross  in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza.

The three men all appeared thin, weak and pale, and in worse condition than the 18 hostages who had previously been freed earlier. "He looked like a skeleton, it was awful to see," Ohad Ben Ami's mother-in-law, Michal Cohen, told Channel 13 News as she watched the Hamas-directed handover ceremony.

A livid Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will not ignore the sight of three weak, emaciated Israeli hostages being led on to a stage in Gaza and forced into an apparent staged interview by Hamas militants before their release.

Israel’s president Isaac Herzog denounced the treatment of Israeli hostages freed from Gaza on Saturday as a “crime against humanity” after the men were paraded on stage during their handover by masked Hamas militants. “This is what a crime against humanity looks like! The whole world must look directly at Ohad, Or, and Eli – returning after 491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained – being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle by vile murderers,” Herzog said in a statement on X.

In the latest exchange, the  fifth, Israel set free 183 more Palestinian prisoners and detainees.  Of the 183, 18 people released were serving life sentences for committing deadly attacks and 54 were serving long-term sentences. All are men, ranging in age from 20 to 61. For families of the Israeli hostages who have been held incommunicado in Gaza for more than a year, the wait has been a rollercoaster of dread and hope as the moments of reunion drew near.

Some face a painful return. Sharabi's two teenage daughters and his British-born wife were slain in the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri, where one in 10 residents was killed. Despite hiccups, a 42-day ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchange worked out with US backing and mediation by Egypt and Qatar has held up since it took effect nearly three weeks ago.

But fears the deal might collapse before all the hostages are free have grown since  US President Donald Trump's surprise call for Palestinians to be moved from Gaza and for the enclave to be handed to the United States and developed into the "Riviera of the Middle East". Arab states and Palestinian groups have rejected the proposal, which critics said would amount to ethnic cleansing.