GAZA/I (Reuters): Hamas fighters released 24 hostages on Friday during the first day of the war’s first truce, the Red Cross said, including Israeli women and children and Thai farm workers.
Nine hours after guns fell silent for the first time in seven weeks, the International Red Cross said it had begun an operation to facilitate the transfer of hostages in Gaza to Israel in return for Palestinians held in Israeli jails. It later said 24 hostages had been freed in Gaza.
“The deep pain that family members separated from their loved ones feel is indescribable. We are relieved that some will be reunited after long agony,” said Fabrizio Carboni, the International Committee of the Red Cross’s regional director for the Near and Middle East.
Israeli media reported that 13 women and children had been handed over to the Red Cross and to an Egyptian security team assisting their release. The Israeli government and Hamas did not immediately confirm this.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said in a social media post that the 12 Thai workers had been released from captivity in Gaza. A source briefed on the negotiations said the release of the Thais, who were all men, was unrelated to the truce negotiations and followed a separate track of talks with Hamas mediated by Egypt and Qatar.
Under the terms of the four-day Israel-Hamas truce, 13 women and children out of around 240 hostages captured by Hamas fighters on a killing spree in southern Israel on Oct. 7 were expected to comprise the first group to be released.
They had been due to be freed with the aid of the Red Cross and an Egyptian security team at 4 p.m. (1400 GMT), nine hours after the start of the ceasefire, and to be flown home under military guard.
In exchange, Israel was due to release the first 39 Palestinians from its jails on Friday, among them 24 women and 15 teenagers.
A total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed under the four-day truce, though Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.
Comments are closed.