Hamas released eight hostages on Thursday — five Thai farm workers and three dual German-Israeli nationals — in exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

This is the third round of exchanges in the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which is now in its second week.

The chaotic sight of armed fighters escorting Israeli hostages through a crowd of thousands of onlookers caused Israeli leaders to briefly delay the release of the Palestinian prisoners, underscoring the fragility of the current truce.

Also Thursday, Hamas confirmed for the first time that Israel killed the head of its military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike last year. Deif was one of the alleged masterminds of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

5 Thai hostages being treated at hospital

BEER YAAKOV, Israel — Dozens of doctors, nurses and representatives from Israel and Thailand welcomed the five Thai hostages who were released on Thursday with cheers and waving flags of the two countries as they entered the hospital.

The five Thai farm workers are in “fair” health, although some were held underground and without sunlight for extended periods of time, said Dr. Osnat Levzion-Korach, the general director of Shamir Medical Center.

They will be treated in the hospital for a few days until they can travel home or their families can come to Israel.

Thai Ambassador to Israel Pannabha Chandraramya said she facilitated video calls between the hostages and their families, which was incredibly emotional for everyone involved, with shouts of joy and tears.

She said it was “one of the happiest days of her life” to see the release of the hostages just a week before she ends her five-year term.

Pannabha said there was no immediate information available about the last Thai hostage nor the bodies of two Thai workers who Israel believes were killed in the October 2023 Hamas attacks and their remains taken to Gaza.

Israel identified the Thai hostages released as: Watchara Sriaoun, 33; Pongsak Thaenna, 36; Sathian Suwannakham, 35; Surasak Rumnao, 32; and Bannawat Saethao, 27.

Thai officials said they appeared to be in good health.

Mother describes joyful moment she saw son freed

BANGKOK — The mother of Thai hostage Surasak Rumnao was overcome with joy as militants released her son from Gaza, watching the scene unfold via a Facebook livestream with her husband and daughter at their home in Udon Thani, Thailand.

Khammee Lamnao had been anxiously waiting for updates from her country's embassy in Israel since Thursday morning. The release didn't take place until well after sundown in Thailand.

“I was so happy that I could not eat anything. His father brought some food to me but I did not want to eat at all,” Khammee said on a video call with The Associated Press after the her son was released. “I recognized him, although his skin looks more fair and he is fatter now.”

She said she wasn't immediately able to talk to him on a video call.

“When he’s back, I’d like to hold the ritual for consoling him and afterward I want him to be ordained” as a Buddhist monk, Khammee said. “He can be in monkhood as long as he wants.”

Israel begins freeing Palestinian prisoners after Netanyahu held up their release

RAMALLAH, West Bank — A line of white buses carrying Palestinian prisoners who were set to be released Thursday left Ofer prison in the West Bank.

The buses made their way toward Beitunah, near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, where relatives and celebrations awaited.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had held up the prisoners' release because of a chaotic hostage transfer in Gaza earlier Thursday.

Israel was releasing the 110 Palestinian prisoners Thursday in exchange for three Israeli and five Thai hostages freed hours earlier.

All 5 Thai hostages are in good health, official says

BANGKOK — All five of the released Thai hostages appear to be in good health but will receive more thorough medical checkups in light of their 15 months in captivity, a spokesperson for Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nikorndej Balankura, said.

The men, who range in age from 27 to 36, are expected to return to Thailand within 10 days depending on their physical condition and completion of the necessary paperwork, the spokesperson said at a news conference in Bangkok.

He said the total number of Thai nationals affected include 46 fatalities, 28 released hostages and one remaining hostage. Israel says three Thais remain in captivity, two of whom are believed to be dead.

A number of foreign workers were taken hostage along with dozens of Israeli civilians and soldiers during Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Twenty-three Thais were among more than 100 hostages released during a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023.

Agam Berger reunites with family at military base

TEL AVIV, Israel — “We’re here and we’re never leaving you,” Agam Berger’s mother, Merav, told her daughter in the moments of their initial reunion on Israeli soil after Agam’s release on Thursday from Hamas captivity.

Berger, 20, was among five young female soldiers abducted when militants overran the Nahal Oz military base in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 60 soldiers there. The other four were released Saturday.

The family was reunited at a specially prepared reception area in a military base near the Gaza border. A pale looking Berger wiped away tears as she sat on her mother’s lap and held her father’s hand, as seen in footage released by the Israeli army.

From the military base, Berger was flown to a hospital in central Israel, where she will meet her fellow released soldiers.

Netanyahu condemns chaos

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the chaotic scenes at the site of a second hostage release in Gaza on Thursday.

“I view with utmost severity the shocking scenes during the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office shortly after the handover was completed. He said he “demands that the mediators make certain that such terrible scenes do not recur and guarantee the safety of our hostages.”

Militants lead second hostage through crowd ahead of release

Militants led Israeli hostage Arbel Yehoud through a chaotic crowd in Gaza ahead of her release, hours after Hamas handed a captive Israeli soldier over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip. Yehoud was at the center of the dispute about the sequence of releases that briefly rocked the ceasefire over the weekend. Israel says she was supposed to have been freed Saturday and delayed the opening of crossings to northern Gaza when she was not.

Israeli soldier Agam Berger released in Gaza strip

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas handed captive Israeli soldier Agam Berger over to the Red Cross at a ceremony in the heavily destroyed urban refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza.

Berger, 20, was abducted alongside four other female soldiers, who were freed on Saturday.

At a gathering in Tel Aviv, people cheered, clapped and whistled as they saw images of Berger being released on a TV screen, next to a large clock that’s counted the days the hostages have been in captivity.

Some held signs saying “Agam we’re waiting for you at home.”

A short time later, Israel confirmed that Berger was with its military.