Hamas at the weekend freed a first batch of hostages seized in the deadliest attack in Israel’s history under a deal that saw a temporary truce take hold in war-ravaged Gaza. Thirteen Israeli hostages captured during Palestinian militants’ cross-border raids were back in Israeli territory where they would undergo medical checks before being reunited with their families, the army said.
They included four children and six elderly women; a list issued by the Israeli prime minister’s office showed. A convoy of Red Cross vehicles was earlier seen crossing the border between Gaza and Egypt, with some of the passengers waving, after Hamas handed over the hostages to the humanitarian organisation.
Israel is set to free three times as many Palestinian prisoners — women and teenage boys — under a deal that followed weeks of talks involving Israel, Palestinian militant groups, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States. Key mediator Qatar confirmed Hamas had on Friday released a total of 24 hostages and that Israel had freed 39 women and children from its prisons.
“Those released include 13 Israeli citizens, some of whom are dual citizens, in addition to 10 Thai citizens and a Filipino citizen,” its foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said. A White House official said “we do not expect Americans to be among the first group released today but remain hopeful that there will be Americans among the 50 released”.
Pictures released earlier by the Israeli army showed bright pink and blue headphones sitting on the seats of a helicopter ready for the released hostages to use, along with toys and teddy bears waiting at a reception centre where they were being taken to.
During a four-day truce, at least 50 hostages are expected to be freed, leaving an estimated 190 in the hands of Palestinian militants. In exchange, 150 Palestinians prisoners are expected to be released. Of the 39 released on Friday, 28 were freed in the occupied West Bank, an AFP correspondent saw, while the other 11 were on their way to annexed east Jerusalem.
Hamas broke through Gaza’s militarised border with Israel on October 7 to kill, according to Israeli officials, about 1,200 people and seize around 240 Israeli and foreign hostages.
‘Going Home’
The pause in fighting triggered a mass movement of thousands of Gazans who had sought refuge in schools and hospitals from relentless Israeli bombardment begun after attacks by Hamas militants.
“I’m going home,” Omar Jibrin, 16, told AFP after he emerged from a hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip where he and eight family members had sought refuge.
In Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza where many Palestinians fled, a cacophony of car horns and ambulance sirens has replaced the sound of war. For Khaled al-Halabi, the truce is “a chance to breathe” after nearly seven weeks of war.
Halabi had taken refuge in Rafah but is from Gaza City in the north, much of which has been reduced to rubble. Israel’s retaliatory air, artillery and naval strikes alongside a ground offensive have killed about 15,000 people, most of them civilians, the Hamas government in Gaza said.
Gazans have struggled to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. Trucks carrying aid, including fuel, gas, and food, began moving into Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt shortly after the truce began at 7:00 am (0500 GMT).
