GAZA: In the first of the four stages Hamas has handed over thirteen hostages (women and children) to Egypt via Red Cross on Friday (24th of Nov, 2023).
Ten Thai and one Philippine citizen have also been released outside the framework of the deal. (Some 30,000 Thai nationals work in Israel as migrants).
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ICRC tweeted: “We are relieved to confirm that safe release of 24 hostages. We have facilitated their release by transporting them from Gaza to the Rafah Border , making the real-life impact of our role as a neutral intermediary betwixt the parties.”
Presently, the released hostages are in the hands of Israeli security forces.
Israeli Defense Forces’ spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed: “IDF Special Forces and ISA Forces are currently with the released hostages.
“The released hostages underwent an initial medical assessment inside Israeli territory“.
On the other hand Israel released 39 Palestinians, detained in Israeli jails.
Dr. Majed Al Ansari, Spokesman of the Qatari Foreign Ministry, taking to the X (Twitter) confirmed: “Those released include 13 Israeli citizens, some of whom have dual citizenship, in addition to 10 Thai citizens and a Filipino citizen…
“We also confirm the release of 39 women and children detained in Israeli jails thus upholding the commitment of the first day of the agreement”.
Overall Israel will set 150 women and children free in return for the 50 of their own citizens during the 4-day truce.
APP/AFP Adds: Hamas said a group of hostages seized in the deadliest attack in Israel’s history were handed over on Friday as a temporary truce took hold in Gaza following weeks of fighting.
“Half an hour ago, the prisoners were handed to the Red Cross who will take them to the Egyptians” at the Rafah crossing, a source close to Hamas told the Media.
A source in the military wing of Hamas confirmed the handover, adding: “This is the first group under the agreement.”
A first tranche of 13 women and child hostages were expected to go back to Israel on Friday under a deal that followed weeks of talks involving Israel, Palestinian militant groups, Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Israel is set to release three times as many Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails — women and teenage boys.
A dozen Thai hostages kidnapped during Hamas’s October 7 raids into Israel were also released on Friday, Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced.
Pictures released 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 exchange, 150 Palestinians prisoners are expected to be released.
– ‘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 the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants.
“I’m going home,” Omar Jibrin, 16, told the Media 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, the Hamas government in Gaza said.
Gazans have struggled to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. Trucks carrying more aid, including fuel, gas, and food, began moving into Gaza from the Rafah crossing with Egypt shortly after the truce began at 7:00 am.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, expressed hope in Geneva that the pause “leads to a longer-term humanitarian ceasefire for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and beyond.”
He repeated the need for access across Gaza, especially in the north “where the damage and the humanitarian needs are the greatest”.
According to the UN, 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people are estimated to have been displaced by the fighting.
Now, thousands of them are trying to get home.
In Khan Yunis, they loaded belongings onto carts, strapped them to car roofs, or slung bags over their shoulders, crowding streets to return to their homes from temporary shelters. Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets warning people that the war is not over and it is “very dangerous” to return north, the focus of Israel’s military campaign.
The truce was also a chance for some Palestinians to return to Gaza through the Rafah crossing.
In the morning, a few apparent gunshots could be heard and dark plumes of smoke rose periodically over northern Gaza, an AFPTV livecam showed, but the truce appeared to be holding in the afternoon.
Further north, on the Lebanon-Israel border, calm also returned after regular deadly exchanges of fire, primarily between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.
The Lebanese movement, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.
The 13 Israeli hostages freed by Hamas on Saturday:
Families and children kidnapped from Israel’s southern Kibbutz Beeri were among the 13 Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Saturday, according to accounts given to AFP by their relatives, Israeli press, and the Hostage Families Forum.
The releases came following a Friday agreement between Israel and Hamas, which is supposed to last four days and allow for 50 Israelis and 150 Palestinians to be freed.
A group of 13 Israeli hostages were also freed on Friday under the agreement, while Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners on Friday, and a further 39 on Saturday night.
Hamas also freed 15 foreigners who were not included in its agreement with Israel: four Thai hostages on Saturday, in addition to ten Thais and one Filipino released on Friday. The 13 Israeli hostages released Saturday are:
– Hila and Emily –
Hila and Emily, two friends aged 13 and 9, were abducted together, along with Hila’s mother Raya Rotem, 54, who is still held in Gaza.
Emily was initially reported dead, but was later counted among the hostages. “Emily has come back to us!” cheered her father, Thomas Hand.
“We can’t find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days. We are overjoyed to embrace Emily again, but at the same time, we remember Raya Rotem and all the hundreds of hostages who have yet to return.”
The young Israeli-Irish girl, whose mother died of cancer when she was two-and-a-half years old, celebrated her 9th birthday in captivity on 17 November, according to her father. “She spent her birthday in the tunnels of Gaza,” he said at a gathering in her honour in London that day.
– Adina Shoham and her family –
Adina Shoham, 38, was abducted with her three-year-old daughter, Yahel, and eight-year-old son, Naveh.
All three also hold German dual nationality through Adina’s father, Avshalom Haran, who was killed in the attack.
Adina’s aunt, Sharon Avigdori, was abducted with her daughter Noam, 12.
They were all at Kibbutz Beeri to visit Adina’s mother, Shoshan Haran, who was also released on Saturday.
Adina’s husband, Tal Shoham, was the seventh hostage in their family and is still held by Hamas.
– Shiri Weiss and her daughter –
Shiri Weiss, a 53-year-old accountant, and her daughter Noga, 18, were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Beeri.
According to the accounts of their relatives, with whom Noga was in contact via WhatsApp during the assault, the young woman was hiding under a bed when her mother was abducted.
Driven out by smoke that filled her house, she tried to hide outside, where she was spotted. Her father, Ilan Weiss, had left his home at dawn that day to defend his kibbutz. He was also taken hostage.
– Alma and Noam –
The two teenagers Alma, 13, and Noam, 16, were abducted from Kibbutz Beeri in the company of their father Dror Or and their cousin Liam, 18.
Their mother, Yonat, was killed in the attack.
Their elder brother, Yahli, who is undergoing military service in northern Israel, was not at home.
– Maya Regev –
Maya Regev, 21, was abducted with her younger brother Itay, 18, as they tried to flee the Tribe of Nova music festival.
Maya was hit by gunfire while on the phone with their father, who tried in vain to locate their position.
A few hours later, the siblings were seen in video circulating online tied to the back of a pick-up truck.
Originally from Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, Maya and Itay had returned to Israel the previous day after celebrating their mother’s birthday abroad.
Itay has not yet been released.
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