Thirteen Israeli and four Thai nationals released from Hamas captivity arrived in Israel on Sunday and were set to be reunited with their families as part of a crucial hostage deal, which briefly risked falling apart due to a dispute over aid supplies.
The brief dispute over aid that jeopardized the temporary truce for the release of captives was resolved through the intervention of Qatar and Egypt. However, this incident highlighted the tenuous nature of the agreement, which involves the exchange of 50 Israeli hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners over a four-day period.
Television footage depicted hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after departing from Gaza. Hamas transferred the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) late on Saturday. Among the 13 Israelis released, there were six women and seven children and teenagers, as reported by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
In exchange for the Israeli hostages, 39 Palestinian civilians including 33 minors have been released from Israeli prisons. Al Jazeera TV carried live footage of what it called a Red Cross bus carrying a large number of cheering Palestinian prisoners released from an Israeli prison on its way to Beitunia town, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thai nationals released
A Palestinian official familiar with the diplomacy said Hamas would continue with the four-day truce agreed with Israel, the first halt in fighting since Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.