2nd Group of Hostages Released After Tense Delay by Hamas

Hostages are transported in International Committee of the Red Cross vehicles from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land crossing in Rafah, Gaza, on Nov. 25, 2023. (Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)

Israel has confirmed that over a dozen hostages have been released by Hamas as part of a second batch of freed abductees, after an earlier delay by the terror group sparked fears that the hostages-for-prisoners swap deal might fall apart.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement Saturday that representatives from the Red Cross had just handed over 17 hostages, including 13 Israelis and 4 Thai abductees, and that the individuals are now on Israeli soil waiting to be reunited with loved ones.

IDF said in a separate statement that the now former hostages were being escorted by special forces and the Shin Bet after undergoing an initial medical assessment.

“The commanders of the IDF and its soldiers salute and embrace the returning hostages upon their return home,” the IDF said in the statement. “We will continue to work together with the defense establishment’s bodies for the return of all the hostages,” the statement continues, while calling on the public to “show patience and sensitivity and respect the privacy of released hostages and their families.”

One of the released hostages was 9-year-old Irish-Israeli citizen Emily Hand, prompting Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin to issue a statement saying he’s “delighted” that she is now free.

“After weeks of trauma, this is a precious and deeply moving moment for the Hand family,” Mr. Martin said, while acknowledging the role played by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt in securing the release of the hostages.

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Earlier, Hamas said that it had delayed the release of a second batch of Israeli hostages due to a dispute over the entry of aid trucks into Gaza and other issues.

Israel denied breaking the terms of the hostages-for-prisoners swap deal and denounced the delay as a stalling tactic meant to add “stress” to the families of the captives.

Amid swirling doubts around whether the hostages would be released, the foreign ministry of Qatar said earlier on Saturday that the delayed release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas would ultimately proceed later in the day.

“After a delay in implementing the release of prisoners from both sides, the obstacles were overcome through Qatari-Egyptian communications with both sides,” said Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Qatar, which along with Egypt has been a mediator in talks between Israel and Hamas to release Hamas-held hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

“Tonight 39 Palestinian civilians will be released in exchange for the release of 13 Israeli detainees from Gaza in addition to 7 foreigners outside the framework of the agreement,” the spokesperson added.

According to Israeli media, all 39 Palestinian detainees and prisoners had been released on Saturday. Of the Palestinians released, 33 are teenage boys and six are women.

One of the women released is Israa Jaabis, 38, who was convicted by Israel of detonating a gas cylinder in her car at a West Bank checkpoint in 2015, wounding a police officer, according to The Times of Israel. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Another released female prisoner was Nourhan Awad, sentenced by Israel as a 17-year-old to 13 years for attacking and stabbing a man with a pair of scissors. From the Qalandiya refugee camp in Jerusalem, Ms. Awad was was shot twice in the chest by Israeli forces during the incident but survived. Her cousin, 14, who was accompanying her, did not survive after he was shot by Israeli soldiers during the attack.

Hamas Delay

Earlier on Saturday, the Hamas terror group’s al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the second round of hostage releases would be delayed if Israel did not adhere to the agreed terms of the hostages-for-prisoners release.

The second batch of Israeli hostages was supposed to be released on Saturday after the first batch was released on Friday as part of a four-day truce agreed to between Hamas and Israel in order to allow for the hostage-prisoner exchange and aid to flow into Gaza.

A senior Hamas official reportedly confirmed the delay to British news outlet BBC, claiming that Israel had allowed only three trucks of out 100 to reach northern Gaza.

In response to the delay, an Israeli military spokesperson told French television channel BFM that Israel had fully respected the truce.

Also, Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reacted to the delay in an interview with Sky News.

“As much as I can feel the pain of the families who wanted to see their loved ones already on Israeli soil, I'd remind them that yesterday there was also a delay,” he said. “Maybe today there’s less excuses for a Hamas delay because they’ve had two days of a cease-fire and so they can’t say it’s more difficult, it should have been easier today.”

“But when dealing with a group like Hamas we need nerves of steel,” he continued. “If they can stress people on our side a bit longer they'll try to do so, but they have their commitment,” Mr. Regev said, adding that Hamas had promised to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages during the four-day pause.

Mr. Regev confirmed that aid trucks had reached northern Gaza, as arranged. Also, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that 200 trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Friday via Egypt’s Rafah crossing “as part of the framework for the release of the hostages, as agreed with the US and mediated by Qatar and Egypt.”

Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan told the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV channel that the delay was due to violations of the truce by Israel “linked to aid [entering Gaza], in addition to shootings and the rising death toll ... Some of [these violations] happened yesterday, and repeated today.”

Released hostages disembark from vehicles amid a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Egypt, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Al Qahera News/Reuters TV via Reuters)

Second Exchange

Earlier on Saturday, two Egyptian officials speaking on condition of anonymity told media outlets that Hamas had provided mediators in Egypt and Qatar with the names of 14 Israeli women and children that the terror group was keeping captive and was prepared to release in exchange for more Palestinians.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement to media outlets that Egypt was holding talks with all parties to reach an agreement that would mean “the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.”

Israel has said that the temporary cease-fire could be extended if more hostages are released, but it has vowed to resume its military operation once the truce ends.

The exchange is part of a deal under which, over the course of a four-day truce, a total of 50 individuals held captive by the Hamas terror group would be traded for 150 Palestinian prisoners.

Some of the Palestinians that are part of the swap have been convicted of violent offenses or on weapon charges.

The first exchange, which took place on Friday, involved Hamas releasing 13 Israelis, 10 Thai farm workers, and a Filipino—while Israel released 39 Palestinians.

Families of the hostages and others watch the news broadcasts as hostages are released into Egypt before being brought into Israel by the ICRC, outside the Museum of Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

War Against Hamas ‘Will Not Stop’

In a video statement on Saturday, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) called Friday’s prisoner exchange a “pause in our war against the barbaric terrorists of Hamas—a war that will not stop until Hamas has been dismantled.”

“Tonight, the world watched and breathed a collective sigh of relief when they saw some of our hostages returning home,” Brig. Gen. Daniel Harari said.

He said the IDF remains focused on what he called its “sacred mission” of freeing all the hostages and “keep fighting the savage terrorists of Hamas who abducted them in the first place.”

Under the cease-fire deal, Hamas was set to release one Israeli hostage for every three Palestinians freed. Overall, the terror group agreed to release at least 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel freeing 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women and minors.

Israel has said it’s prepared to extend the truce by one extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.

*This article has been updated to reflect the latest developments.