Hamas paraded five Israeli hostages, some looking dazed and others elated, before cheering crowds at two meticulously recorded ceremonies in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

In the first well-rehearsed morning ceremony in Rafah, Hamas fighters stood in an orderly fashion as they handed over hostages Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu, who walked with apparent difficulty, to the Red Cross.

As in previous hostage releases, the men were given certificates in Hebrew to mark the end of their captivity before being helped into vehicles from the Red Cross, which acts as an intermediary, an AFP journalist reported.

Hamas fighters from the group's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, wearing fatigues, balaclavas and green headbands, formed a cordon around the area to hold back the crowd of onlookers.

In a similarly choreographed ceremony later in Nuseirat, hostages Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert took........

© Al Monitor