Israel-Hamas war: More Israeli hostages freed from Gaza

The Israeli military has confirmed that the militant-Islamist group Hamas released 13 Israeli hostages and four foreign hostages in the second round of a hostage-for-prisoner exchanges under a four-day truce deal.

Israel said the Red Cross transferred the freed hostages to Egypt on Saturday night.

Israel released 39 Palestinians as part of the exchange. Six women and 33 minors were released from two prisons, the Palestinian news agency WAFA said.

The four foreign hostages were Thai nationals, Egyptian state television reported.

Hamas said the release of the Thai hostages came about after lobbying from Turkey.

"In response to the efforts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas has completed the release of Thai detainees inside the Gaza Strip," the militant group said in a statement.

The handover came hours later than expected after Hamas accused Israel of violating the exchange agreement, which Israeli officials denied.

James Elder, spokesman for The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), told DW from Gaza that he witnessed injured children who had not received medical care for days.

"It is a graveyard. I said that based on all the reports and everything we'd heard from colleagues on the ground a couple of weeks ago," Elder said. "And now that I'm here, I can't actually believe it, it's worse than I imagined."

"I've been at a hospital today. Again, the wounds of war I see in children are things I haven't really seen, at least not the sheer number of children," Elder explained.

"A busload coming down from the north, children who hadn't seen medical care for three or four days."

"They just smell of rotting flesh … Children with horrendous burn marks, with wounds of war, mortar wounds," Elder said.

The spokesman for the UN children's agency said that people were using the temporary truce to look for family members, and called for the temporary truce to turn into a "lasting peace."

"We're also saying: This, this can't end in two-days time. We can't honestly, in all good conscience, go back to 100 children being killed a day," Elder said.

Earlier this week, UNICEF's executive director Catherine Russell told the UN Security Council that over 5,300 children have reportedly been killed in Gaza since Hamas launched the October 7 terror attack on Israel, accounting for 40% of the deaths.

The Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people in Israel, according to revised Israeli estimates published earlier this month. At the UN briefing, Russell also said 35 of Israeli children have reportedly been killed, while others are being held hostage in Gaza. After the briefing, Israel's UN ambassador Gilad Erdan accused the UN agencies of blindly trusting Hamas figures and being biased against Israel.

 

Following hours of uncertainty on Saturday, Qatar announced that 13 Israeli hostages would be freed "tonight" in exchange for 39 Palestinians.

"After a delay, obstacles to release of prisoners were overcome through Qatari-Egyptian contacts with both sides, and 39 Palestinian civilians will be released tonight, while 13 Israeli hostages will leave Gaza in addition to 7 foreigners," Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The Qatari statement comes after Hamas threatened to delay the exchange until Israel allows aid into northern Gaza.

The AFP news agency reported that Hamas confirmed the second hostage release would take place after all, citing a statement from the militant group.

According to the agency, Hamas "responded positively" to Egyptian and Qatari mediators after they relayed a promise by Israel "to uphold all the conditions of the accord."

The Hamas militant group on Saturday said it delayed a second round of hostage releases, until Israel committed to letting aid trucks enter northern Gaza.

Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades — the armed wing of the Islamist group — said that the process would be delayed if Israel did not adhere to the agreed terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

An Israeli military source told French television channel BFM that the truce had been respected, according to a Reuters report.

Separately, the AFP news agency cited an Israeli source as saying that "Israel has not violated the agreement."

The exchange had been negotiated in advance and set to start on Saturday afternoon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office had earlier in the day received a list of hostages to be released.

The now-delayed move was set to follow a successful exchange on Friday, when Hamas released 24 hostages, among them 13 Israelis, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino citizen. In return, Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinian militants killed two people early Saturday over alleged collaboration with Israel.

The two were shot dead at the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank.

A Palestinian security officer said the two were accused of aiding Israeli security forces to target the group in a major raid that killed three key militants on November 6.

The alleged informers were in their late 20s and early 30s and one of them was from the camp, the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Images on social media showed a mob kicking the bloodied corpses and dragging them through alleys before trying to tie them to an electrical tower.

The scenes were reminiscent of the chaos in the occupied West Bank during two Palestinian uprisings against Israeli rule that erupted in 1987 and in 2000, respectively.

During the those periods, there were frequent killings of alleged informers, at times with bodies displayed in public.

Israel will be the first stop for German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as he begins his two-day trip to the Middle East on Sunday.

Steinmeier will be traveling to Israel, Oman and Qatar. His first meeting will be with Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog for political discussions, according to his office.

In a video message released on Saturday, Steinmeier said he wanted to show his support for Israel following the deadly terror attacks of October 7 by the Islamist Hamas militant group.

"No one can deny Israel the right to fight terror decisively," Steinmeier said. However, he also added that fighting was causing immense suffering among unarmed civilians in the Gaza Strip.

"Every precaution to get civilians out of the line of fire is necessary. In addition, there is the supply of the most vital necessities. That is what international humanitarian law demands, and that is what we Germans also expect," Steinmeier said.

More trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered Gaza via Egypt's Rafah border crossing on Saturday.

Due to the temporary truce agreed to by Israel and Hamas, aid organizations are able to send in larger quantities of supplies.

A UN convoy delivered aid to two shelters for displaced people in northern Gaza for the first time in over a month, the UN's OCHA humanitarian office said. 

Lines of trucks were waiting to cross at Rafah on Saturday and were slowly making progress across.

In Gaza, which is still effectively under blockade, people lined up their empty cooking gas cylinders hoping for refills.

On Friday, more than 100 UN trucks carrying fuel, food, water, medicine and other essentials and almost 200 trucks delivering to the Palestinian Red Crescent were able to enter via the Egyptian crossing, the two organizations said. 

 

Israel's military said on Saturday that its forces and Hezbollah militants exchanged fire around the Israeli-Lebanese border overnight. 

Israeli air defenses shot down a missile fired at an Israeli drone from southern Lebanon, according to the military, without the unmanned aircraft taking damage. 

Israeli forces then struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response, the IDF said. 

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said Israeli jets had been spotted in Lebanese airspace.

Although the Gaza cease-fire agreement does not refer to the Israeli-Lebanese border, the deal had initially been accompanied by a brief period of comparative calm on Israel's northern border. 

Exchanges of fire had been comparatively commonplace on the border since Hamas' October 7 attack and Israel's retaliation. However, they had also remained on a relatively small scale.

A suspected aerial drone attack damaged an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Indian Ocean, a US defense official said on Saturday.

He said Washington believed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was behind the incident, which took place on Friday, when first reports of an incident on board emerged. 

"We are aware of reports that there was a suspected IRGC-initiated Shahed-136 UAV [that] struck a civilian motor vessel in the Indian Ocean," the official said, adding that "the ship incurred minor damage" and there were "no injuries." 

Maritime security company  Ambrey said the vessel, sailing under a Maltese flag, "was managed by an Israeli-affiliated company, which was assessed to be the reason why it was targeted." 

The ship is owned by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately controlled by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.

The attack comes almost a week after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized an Israel-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea. 

Israel's prison service issued a list of people slated for release on Saturday in a second prisoner exchange. 

It listed 42 Palestinian prisoners in all.

Given the agreed three-to-one ratio for the exchange of the hostages taken by Hamas in its October 7 attack, that would suggest 14 Israeli hostages might be released on Saturday. 

There has been no official word from Israel's government on how many hostages were expected to be freed. 

During the planned four-day truce, Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women and minors. 

Hamas released 13 Israelis on the first day of the truce and 24 hostages in all; ten of them Thai and one a Philippine national.

Israel has said the truce can be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.

Thailand's foreign ministry said on Saturday that Hamas was still holding 20 Thai citizens after freeing 10 from Gaza. 

The freed hostages had been moved to Israel via Egypt and would spend 48 hours in the hospital before returning home, the ministry said. 

"There are now an estimated 20 Thai nationals who remain abducted," it said in a statement. "We sincerely hope the remaining hostages will be treated humanely and released safely as soon as possible." 

The only Thai woman known to be held by Hamas was among those released. 

News agencies including Reuters cited Thai sources as saying that the deal was separate to the hostage release and pause in fighting agreed by Israel and Hamas. 

Thailand's foreign ministry thanked the governments of Egypt, Iran, Israel and Qatar, the International Committee of the Red Cross and others for the "immense efforts" that led to the release. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the release of the first group of hostages, writing on X: "Australia welcomes the release of hostages and the pause in hostilities to allow humanitarian access to Gaza." 

He added Australia has consistently called for all hostages to be released, for the protection of civilians and "for steps towards a sustainable ceasefire and a long-term, enduring peace."

Israel has vowed to press on with its war against Hamas militants in Gaza Strip after the four-day truce expires.

The short truce leaves Gaza mired in humanitarian crisis and under the threat that fighting could soon resume.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for the unconditional release of all hostages after expressing appreciation for the tireless diplomacy that it took to release the first group of hostages held by Hamas militants on Friday.

"It is good news that a first group of hostages has finally been released. We can hardly fathom what they and their families have had to go through over the last few weeks. (1/2)," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"This is the result of tireless diplomacy — our thanks goes to all those who have worked for this. Today can only be a start. Hamas must release all hostages unconditionally!" he said.

Of the 24 hostages who were released by Hamas militants on Friday, four were German-Israeli dual nationals.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock similarly said she was immensely relieved to hear of the news and expressed her thanks to Qatar, which helped broker the four-day truce under which 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be released. 

Hamas militants broke into southern Israel on October 7 and killed some 1,200 people. Hamas also took some 240 hostages from Israel during the terror attacks, holding them captive in Gaza.  

Qatar, a long-established mediator in the region, then reached out to the US to work on negotiations to release hostages.

After weeks of diplomacy by Qatar and Egypt, and the White House, a deal was agreed by the US, Israel and Hamas to secure the release of 50 hostages.  

About 151 patients, relatives and health workers from the al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza were moved to hospitals in southern Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

"This was a high-risk mission, as intense fighting and shelling continued in proximity of Al-Shifa hospital," the WHO wrote, saying patients were evacuated on November 22, that is before the temporary pause in fighting went into effect.

It took 20 hours for the team to complete the evacuation, including 6 hours at a checkpoint where the team and patients were screened by the Israel Defense Forces, according to the WHO team.

"Three medical personnel from the Palestine Red Crescent Society and three from the Ministry of Health were detained" at the checkpoint, the WHO said.

Nearly 1 million Palestinians have fled the north, including its urban center, Gaza City, as ground combat intensified. Scarce food, water and fuel has also spawned a humanitarian crisis in southern Gaza.

Around 13,000 have died in the Gaza Strip since the latest Israeli war against Hamas militants in Gaza began, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Although the US and Israel have cast doubt on these death toll figures, UN official Philippe Lazzarini said last month these numbers provided by Gaza health authorities were considered as credible during previous wars in Gaza and were not challenged. 

About half of all buildings across northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, according to an analysis of satellite data, and most hospitals across the strip have been knocked out of operation. The UN estimates 1.7 million people are newly homeless.

With the pause in fighting, increased supplies of food, water and medicine promised under the deal began rolling into Gaza, offering temporary relief for some 2.3 million people in the strip.

Israel's offensive against Gaza was launched after Hamas carried out terror attacks on Israeli soil on October 7. These attacks left around 1,200 people dead in Israel, with Hamas also taking around 240 people hostage.       

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it has received a second list of hostages to be released by Hamas militants on Saturday.

Netanyahu's office says it has notified the families of hostages set for release.

This would be the second group after 24 hostages were released on Friday by Hamas under a four-day truce with Israel in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners on Friday.

During the four-day truce, which also includes a pause in fighting that formally went into effect Friday morning, about 50 hostages are set to be released in total by the militant Islamist group Hamas.

Israel said it would release 150 Palestinian prisoners over the course of the truce, but would resume fighting after the cease-fire expires.

Hamas has been designated by EU, US and Israel among others as a terrorist organization.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the first group of hostages had undergone medical tests and were in "good condition."

The Israeli hostages released in the first group were taken to three Israeli hospitals for observation. They include nine women and four children aged nine and under.

The Schneider Children’s Medical Center said it was treating eight Israelis — four children and four women — and that all appeared to be in good physical condition.

rm/wd (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)