Hostages and prisoners return home, the break in the fighting passed in relative peace

The break in fighting between Hamas and Israel that was introduced on Friday and the agreed exchange of hostages and prisoners appear to have passed in relative peace. Last weekend, dozens of released Palestinian prisoners were welcomed. The images of Israeli (grand)parents seeing their child held hostage by Hamas also went around the world.

At the end of last week, Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar and others, agreed to lay down their arms for four days. The break, which started at 10 a.m. on Friday morning, was also intended to provide rest for the delivery of aid to Gaza. Israel agreed to release a total of 150 Palestinian prisoners – only women and minor boys – and Hamas promised to free 50 hostages.

Hamas now wants to extend the current truce by two to four days. International news agencies report this. Israel previously stated that the pause in fighting could be extended if Hamas releases at least ten hostages every day.

On October 7, Hamas invaded Israel in a very violent manner. About 1,200 people were killed. The militant Palestinian movement also took hundreds of people hostage and brought them to Gaza. Since ‘October 7’ – the bloodiest attack on Israel ever – Israel has been besieging the Gaza Strip for Hamas. Residents in North Gaza and Gaza City in particular were called on to move south. More than 13,000 people have been killed in the Israeli bombing and shelling, according to Palestinian authorities.

Released

At the end of Friday afternoon, a first group of hostages was handed over by Hamas to Red Cross employees: thirteen Israelis and twelve Thais. They returned to Israel via the border crossing from Gaza to Egypt in the hours that followed. Israeli authorities released 24 women and 15 teenage boys on Friday.

A second group of hostages was released on Saturday. The victims involved four foreigners and thirteen Israelis, including eight children and five women. This group also included Maya Regev (21). She is the first hostage from the Supernova music festival to be released. At that festival Hamas killed according to Israel more than three hundred visitors and took dozens of hostages.

Regev’s eighteen-year-old brother Itay was also taken hostage at the festival. He’s still stuck. Images of the two tied up in the back of a pickup truck circulated on social media after the terror attack.

“I am delighted and happy that Maya is on her way to us,” said her mother Mirit in a statement released at a forum for families of hostages. “But my heart is split in two now that my son Itay is still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.”

Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, just like on Friday: 33 underage boys and six women. In the West Bank, the bus carrying released Palestinian prisoners was greeted by a frenzied crowd. Mothers and fathers kissed their released teenage sons on the cheeks. Still dressed in their prison uniforms, the young men were carried on shoulders by a crowd.

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The release of hostages held by Hamas was delayed for hours as it accused Israel of breaching agreements. For example, fewer trucks carrying aid would have reached North Gaza, and Israeli intelligence drones would fly over the Gaza Strip. After mediation by Qatar, more hostages were released on Saturday evening.

Israel previously rejected a pause in fighting for fear that Hamas would use the time to regroup or flee. On Sunday, Israel warned residents who fled the violence in recent weeks not to return to northern Gaza. Flyers with that message were distributed across the south of the Gaza Strip, where many Palestinians have moved. Despite this, many Palestinians are returning to North Gaza.

Another exchange was planned for Sunday evening: Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, Hamas freed 17 hostages, including the first prisoner with American nationality. The hostage of eighteen-year-old Ofir Engel, who was granted Dutch citizenship last month through an emergency procedure, has not yet been released, nor would his name appear on the list of names of the hostages to be released on Sunday. A fourth exchange will follow on Monday.

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