In the second hostage release from Hamas captivity in exchange for Palestinian inmates, thirteen Israelis and four Thai nationals landed in Israel on Sunday. The agreement was momentarily jeopardised by a disagreement over the distribution of aid into Gaza.
The conflict that endangered the ceasefire to release captives was resolved through the intervention of Egypt and Qatar, but it highlighted the precarious nature of the agreement to exchange 150 Israeli detainees for 50 hostages held by a violent Palestinian organisation.
As Hamas turned up the hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross late on Saturday, television footage showed the prisoners on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after they had left Gaza.
Of the thirteen Israelis freed, six were women and seven were either young children or teens. Yahel Shoham, age three, was the youngest; she was set free together with her mother and brother, but her father is still being held captive.
“The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will re-unite with their families,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israel freed 39 Palestinians from two prisons, including 33 youngsters and six women.
Thousands of people were waiting for some of the Palestinians when they arrived in Al-Bireh Municipality Square in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to a Reuters witness.
According to a Palestinian official with knowledge of the diplomatic measures, Hamas will maintain the ceasefire, which marks the first cessation of hostilities since Hamas militants stormed through southern Israel on October 7, murdering 1,200 people and kidnapping over 240 others.
Israel has promised to destroy the Hamas militants who control Gaza in retaliation for that incident, bombarding the territory with bombs and shells and beginning a ground invasion in the north. 14,800 individuals have died, over 40% of them were youngsters, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry.
