Hamas releases 24 hostages as Israel truce takes hold

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Hamas has released 24 hostages who had been held in the Gaza Strip as the Palestinian militant group’s truce with Israel took hold.

The group included 13 Israeli civilians, who the country’s military said on Friday had reached Israel after crossing into Egypt from Gaza and would be taken to hospitals there. Those released also included 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino, said Qatar’s foreign ministry.

Qatar, which mediated the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas, added that 39 Palestinian prisoners had been released as part of a hostage swap included in the deal, which took effect on Friday.

“We are relieved to confirm the safe release of 24 hostages,” said the International Committee of the Red Cross, to which the hostages were initially transferred in Gaza.

“It’s a tremendous relief that after enduring weeks of distress, they can finally reunite with their families.”

The Israel Defense Forces said the Israeli former hostages were with military and intelligence personnel. They “underwent an initial medical assessment inside Israeli territory. They will continue to be accompanied by . . . soldiers as they make their way to Israeli hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families,” the IDF said.

News of the releases followed the start of a four-day halt to hostilities between Israel and Hamas on Friday morning, the first since the Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip triggered the war with a devastating attack on Israel on October 7.

The pause in fighting, brokered by Qatar, set the stage for the staggered release of 50 women and children held by Hamas and 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Dozens of Thai workers were also seized by the militant group alongside Israelis, dual nationals and others on October 7, with a total of about 240 people taken captive, according to Israeli officials. The release of the Thais had not previously been announced.

Four tankers of fuel and cooking gas entered besieged Gaza earlier on Friday under the terms of the truce.

The deal was structured such that both sides must abide by a sequence of events, with Israel allowing aid deliveries, Hamas releasing hostages and Israel in turn releasing prisoners, said a person familiar with the situation. This sequence must be repeated each day for the ceasefire to hold.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday night that Israel would continue the war after the pause was over.

About 1,200 people were killed in Israel during Hamas’s assault on October 7, Israeli officials have said. Some 13,300 people have died in Israel’s bombardment and ground incursion into Gaza since then, according to officials in the Hamas-controlled strip, while 1.7mn people have been displaced.