Hamas freed 24 hostages — including 13 Israelis and a number of Thais — from the Gaza Strip on Friday as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the fighting for four days.
Thirteen Israeli hostages were released over to the Red Cross. An Israel Defense Forces source also confirmed they were transferred to Egypt. The IDF said in a statement that the hostages “underwent an initial medical assessment inside Israeli territory.”
Hamas also freed 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino who worked in the Israeli villages and were kidnapped on Oct. 7, the Qatar Foreign Ministry said.
As part of the deal, Israel released 39 Palestinians, which included 24 women and 15 teenagers, who it has been holding in detention for a range of alleged offenses.
“The Israeli government hugs all Israeli citizens who returned home today,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
“The Israeli government is committed to return all those who were kidnapped and those who are still missing,” it added.
A ceasefire was also held, allowing hundreds of trucks carrying aid and some fuel into the war zone. Meanwhile, Palestinians traveled back to their homes to assess the damage
The deal was brokered between the United States, Qatar, and Egypt and is set to release around 50 hostages in all. No Americans were expected to be part of the first group, a senior Biden administration official said.
Netanyahu has said his goal of destroying Hamas and freeing all of the hostages is being given equal weight.
“We are at war, and we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals,” he said in a speech before the release.
President Joe Biden was directly involved in the negotiations and received hourly updates on the progress, the administration official said.
