A group of friends Arbel Yehoud watch in tears and worried silence as the Israeli hostage appeared to be freed, surrounded by a large crowd of Palestinians.
The friends sat in anxious silence at a private home in southern Israel as they watched a TV showing the large crowd of Palestinians gathered at the release point in Gaza. Some cried, others had their hands over their eyes or mouths.
When a news anchor said the situation appeared dangerous, one yells at her to “shut up.”
People began crying when Yehoud was seen walking through the hostile crowd, escorted by gunmen, followed by reports that she had been turned over to the Red Cross.
Most of the 20 or so people were survivors of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack, including three former hostages released in a November 2023 ceasefire.
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