Israeli hostage Agam Berger waves to the crowd during a hostage exchange in Gaza, before being transferred to the ICRC, on Jan. 30, 2025. (Credit: Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
BEIRUT — On a grand stage set up among the rubble, a banner reads: “Palestine: the victory of the oppressed people against Nazi Zionism.” Below it, Israeli hostages sign their names and press their fingerprints onto certificates marking the end of their ordeal in the besieged Gaza Strip. Around their necks, lanyards decorated with the Palestinian flag and a badge with their names, and around them, masked and armed Hamas fighters in crisp uniforms.There are songs hailing ‘The Resistance’ playing and hundreds of Gazans gathered, some standing on the rubble of buildings to see the stage from above, cheering and chanting “Allahuakbar” [God is great].The hostages all react differently to the attention: a girl with a ponytail smiles at a Hamas fighter, looks around her, eyes wide, and then back at him, smiling again, one waves...
BEIRUT — On a grand stage set up among the rubble, a banner reads: “Palestine: the victory of the oppressed people against Nazi Zionism.” Below it, Israeli hostages sign their names and press their fingerprints onto certificates marking the end of their ordeal in the besieged Gaza Strip. Around their necks, lanyards decorated with the Palestinian flag and a badge with their names, and around them, masked and armed Hamas fighters in crisp uniforms.There are songs hailing ‘The Resistance’ playing and hundreds of Gazans gathered, some standing on the rubble of buildings to see the stage from above, cheering and chanting “Allahuakbar” [God is great].The hostages all react differently to the attention: a girl with a ponytail smiles at a Hamas fighter, looks around her, eyes wide, and then back at him, smiling again, one waves...