Hamas frees second group of Israeli, Thai hostages in truce
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GAZA/JERUSALEM – Thirteen Israeli and four Thai nationals arrived in Israel on Nov 26 in the second release of hostages from Hamas captivity in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in a deal briefly endangered by a dispute about aid delivery into Gaza.
Although overcome by the mediation of Egypt and Qatar, the dispute that threatened the truce to free captives underscored the fragility of the pact to swop 50 hostages held by the Palestinian militant groups and 150 prisoners in Israeli jails.
Television footage showed hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after leaving Gaza, as Hamas handed over the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) late on Nov 25.
Six of the 13 Israelis released were women and seven were children and teenagers. The youngest was three-year-old Yahel Shoham, freed with her mother and brother, although her father remains a hostage.
“The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families,” the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Israel released 39 Palestinians – six women and 33 minors – from two prisons, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
Some of the Palestinians arrived at Al-Bireh Municipality Square in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where thousands of citizens were waiting for them, a Reuters witness said.
A Palestinian official familiar with the diplomatic moves said Hamas would continue with the truce, the first halt in fighting since Hamas fighters rampaged through southern Israel on Oct 7
In response to that attack, Israel has vowed to destroy the Hamas militants who run Gaza, raining bombs and shells on the enclave and launching a ground offensive in the north.
To date, some 14,800 people, roughly 40 per cent of them children, have been killed, the Palestinian health authorities said on Nov 25.
The Nov 25 swop follows the previous day’s initial release of 13 other Israeli hostages, including children and the elderly,
Hamas on Nov 24 also released a Philippine national and 10 Thai farm workers.
The four Thais released on Nov 25 “want a shower and to contact their relatives”, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said a day later on social media platform X, adding that all were safe and showed few ill effects.
Eighteen Thais remain captive, Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said on Nov 26 in a tally reflecting two abductions that had previously been unknown.
“I’m so happy, I’m so glad, I can’t describe my feelings at all,” Madam Thongkoon Onkaew told Reuters by telephone after news of the release of her 26-year-old son Natthaporn Onkaew,
How to prioritise releases
The deal risked being derailed when Hamas’ armed wing said on Nov 25 it was delaying releases until Israel met all truce conditions, including committing to let aid trucks into northern Gaza.
Ensuring that the deal did not collapse took a day of high-stakes diplomacy mediated by Qatar and Egypt, a process in which United States President Joe Biden also participated by calling the Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said only 65 of 340 aid trucks that had entered Gaza since Nov 24 had reached northern Gaza, which was “less than half of what Israel agreed on”.
Trucks with humanitarian aid bound for north Gaza on Nov 25.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing, also said Israel had failed to respect terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners that factored in their time in detention.
The IDF said the United Nations and international organisations distribute aid inside the Gaza Strip.
The UN said 61 trucks delivered aid to northern Gaza on Nov 25, the most since the war began seven weeks ago. They included food, water and emergency medical supplies.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said there had been “a lot of discussion” on how and whom to prioritise for the releases and on the Palestinian side, a key criterion was the length of time spent in Israeli prisons.
“We are now hopeful that with the second or the third day of this pause, we would be able to hash out a lot of these details that made this day so difficult,” he told CNN.
Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 a day. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.
‘Heart is split’
Nov 26 also brought hours of nail-biting waiting for the families of hostages, some of whose joy was tempered by the continued captivity of others.
“My heart is split because my son, Itay, is still in Hamas’ captivity in Gaza,” Ms Mirit Regev, mother of Ms Maya Regev, who was among those released late on Nov 25, said in a statement released by Hostage and Missing Families Forum, a platform set up to represent the families.
The wait for the release of the Shohams, who left a parent hostage in Gaza, had been nerve-racking, said Mr Aviv Havron, a relative. “But what is that compared to the 50 days they spent as hostages?” the Ynet news site quoted him as saying.
Also released was nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand, who was initially thought to have been killed.
She spent her ninth birthday in captivity and was released alongside 12-year-old Hila Rotem, whose mother remains in captivity. “We are overjoyed to embrace Emily again, but at the same time, we remember Raya Rotem and all the hostages who have yet to return,” Emily’s family said in a statement.
For Palestinians, however, joy at the release of prisoners from Israeli jails had a bitter tinge to it.
In comments to Al Jazeera TV from her home, freed prisoner Shorouk Dwayyat, who had served half of her 16-year prison term, said she felt joy mixed with pain.
“I feel like I am in a dream, but I hope that the war on Gaza will stop as soon as possible.” REUTERS
