Ranks of Hamas fighters formed up on Gaza's beachfront on Saturday for the handover of an Israeli-American hostage in a show of force against the dramatic backdrop of breaking waves.

In Gaza City a stage had been erected at a harbour for the handover of Keith Siegel.

Green Hamas and Palestinian flags flapped in a strong sea breeze near a fisherman's wharf.

Earlier, Israeli Yarden Bibas and Franco-Israeli Ofer Kalderon were handed over in a swift and organised ceremony in the war-battered city of Khan Yunis to the south.

Siegel, 65, wore a black tracksuit and dark-grey hat as he was escorted quickly to the stage by fighters.

He waved to onlookers and cameras, as hostages being freed have been told to do by their captors, before being handed over to the Red Cross.

The occupational therapist seized from his home, along with his wife Aviva who........

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