Chaotic scenes surrounding the release of Israeli and Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday brought condemnation from Israeli leaders and a temporary delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners, who were ultimately released later in the day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed by several hours the agreed release of 110 Palestinian detainees, including dozens of minors, after live images were broadcast across Israel of a crowd of thousands jostling and cheering as the hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in the central Gazan city of Khan Younis. He described those scenes as “shocking,” and demanded guarantees from those who mediated a ceasefire deal – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – that the incident would not be repeated. The release Thursday morning of the captive Israeli soldier Agam Berger in Jabalya, northern Gaza, had gone off without incident – a stage-managed affair in which Hamas militants paraded…
