Hamas handed over 13 Israeli prisoners and four Thai nationals to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after a seven-hour delay, with the group claiming Israel had violated the terms of a truce.
The impasse was resolved through mediation by Qatar and Egypt on Saturday, the second day of the pause in hostilities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israel has released a second group of 39 Palestinians – six women and 33 children – from two prisons, the Palestinian news agency WAFA announced on Saturday.
A third phase of the exchange of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners under the truce agreement is expected later Sunday.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of the Hamas politburo, told Tel Aviv Tribune that his group was committed to the four-day truce agreement and was ready to release all captives in exchange for the release of all Palestinian prisoners. .
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, said in a message on X that 13 Israelis and four foreign nationals had been handed over to the ICRC. They were heading to the Rafah border crossing, between southern Gaza and Egypt, before heading to Israel.
The 17 captives had arrived in Israel, the Israeli army announced on X.
“After undergoing an initial medical assessment, they will continue to be accompanied by IDF (Israeli Army) soldiers as they head to Israeli hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families,” the statement said.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said the 17 freed people were “taken to an air base in southern Israel for an initial screening, where they will then be flown to several hospitals locations in the Tel Aviv area for additional medical and psychological checks. “.
Among the Israeli prisoners were six adult women and seven children and adolescents, according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. The hostages were released after spending 50 days in captivity, the statement said.
Delay in delivery
Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said earlier that aid deliveries authorized by Israel fell short of what was promised and did not reach northern Gaza, which was the target. of the Israeli offensive.
Only 65 of the 340 aid trucks that have entered Gaza since Friday have reached northern Gaza, which is “less than half of what Israel agreed on,” Hamdan said from Beirut.
Israel said 50 trucks carrying food, water, shelter and medical supplies had been deployed to northern Gaza under United Nations supervision, the first significant aid delivery since the war began seven weeks ago.
The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, said earlier that Israel had failed to respect the conditions for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Qadura Fares, the Palestinian commissioner for prisoners, said Israel had not released detainees by seniority, as planned.
The row over the second exchange of captives for prisoners dashed hopes after the release of 13 Israeli women and children by Hamas on Friday. Ten Thai nationals and one Filipino citizen were released in a separate deal, and 39 Palestinian women and teenagers were released from Israeli prisons.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the government was committed to honoring the truce agreement with Hamas, but that many parties and factors were involved. “And every day brings its share of complexities,” he added.
However, at least two Palestinians were reportedly killed by the Israeli army and 11 injured while trying to reach northern Gaza on Friday.
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian farmer in the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, amid concerns over Israeli truce violations.
Large numbers of displaced people were trying to return home across Gaza as the four-day truce brokered by Qatar came into force on Friday. However, Israel warned the population that they would not be allowed to enter the north of the war-torn enclave.
“Joy is also resistance”
Some Palestinians arrived at Al-Bireh municipal square in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where thousands of citizens were waiting for them, a Reuters journalist said.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Nida Ibrahim in the occupied West Bank said Israeli drones dropped tear gas on Palestinians gathered outside Ofer prison in Beitunia.
Safaa Merie, who was among hundreds of people gathered to welcome the prisoners in Beitunia, told Tel Aviv Tribune she was expecting a 14-year-old boy on behalf of her family members from Jenin, a town in the northern West busy. Bank.
“Because of the Israeli military checkpoints it is very difficult to come here, almost impossible,” she told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“I don’t know him but we are all here to welcome all the prisoners.”
Manal Tamimi told Tel Aviv Tribune in El-Bireh, also in the occupied West Bank, that she was awaiting the release of her teenage nephew Wisam after seven months.
“Our brothers and sisters in Gaza, our hearts bleed for them,” she said.
“But we think that joy is also resistance and (we should not) let the occupier break us, break our happiness.”
Extension of the truce?
Before the issue of the latest hostage and prisoner exchange, Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing through which aid supplies resumed to southern Gaza, said it had received “positive signals” from all sides. the parties on a possible extension of the pause in southern Gaza. struggle.
Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement that Cairo was holding in-depth negotiations with all parties to reach an agreement that would mean “the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
Israel has said the truce could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day. A Palestinian source said up to 100 hostages could be freed.
For now, 50 of around 240 hostages are to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners over four days as part of the truce, the first break in fighting since Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, raining bombs and shells on the enclave and launching a ground offensive in the north. Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed more than 14,800 people, about 40 percent of them children, Palestinian health authorities said Saturday.