Another group of Israeli hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in exchange for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday 25 November, on the second day of a four-day truce following seven weeks of war.
The militant group is expected to free a total of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel, under a deal brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Hamas snatched about 240 captives from Southern Israel in an unprecedented October 7 attack that Israeli officials say killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed an aerial bombing campaign and ground operation in Gaza that the Hamas government says has killed nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians.
Here are five key developments from the past 24 hours:
Fresh Releases Completed
The armed wing of Hamas said Saturday it had handed over 13 Israeli hostages to the Red Cross under the terms of an agreement with Israel, along with an additional seven foreign citizens.
Hamas had “responded positively” to Egyptian and Qatari mediators to ensure the continuation of the truce agreement, after they relayed a promise by Israel to “uphold all the conditions of the accord”.
Red Cross vehicles carrying the hostages crossed into Egypt later on Saturday evening.
وصول سيارات الصليب الأحمر التي تنقل المحتجزين الإسرائيليين والأجانب المفرج عنهم إلى معبر #رفح#حرب_غزة #الأخبار pic.twitter.com/tQwZDZOwfQ
— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) November 25, 2023
A total of 13 Israeli hostages have been freed “tonight” for 39 Palestinian prisoners, in a delayed second exchange agreed as part of a temporary truce in Gaza, mediator Qatar said.
Earlier in the day Hamas had said it would delay handing over hostages until Israel “adheres to the terms of the agreement”.
Humanitarian aid to the North of the Gaza Strip and selection criteria for prisoners to be freed were the issues in question.
On Friday evening, Hamas freed 13 Israelis, along with 10 Thais and one Filipino, and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners from its jails, hours after the truce took effect.
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Returning to North Gaza
The United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, said that despite an Israeli military warning that returning to the north is prohibited, it is estimated that several thousand Palestinians attempted to move from the southern Gaza Strip to the north.
The Hamas-run health ministry said seven people were wounded by fire from Israeli soldiers on Saturday as they tried to go to northern Gaza.
In several reported incidents on Friday, Israeli forces opened fire and threw teargas canisters at people heading northwards, with one person reportedly killed and dozens injured, OCHA said.
Gaza Relief
AFPTV live footage showed a stream of trucks carrying desperately needed aid entering Gaza for the second successive day.
OCHA said 137 trucks carrying fuel, food, water, medicine and other essentials had passed into the embattled Palestinian territory via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Friday.
Twenty-one critical patients were also evacuated.
OCHA said a total of 200 trucks had been sent from the Israeli village of Nitzana to the Rafah crossing on Friday.
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Drone Hits Israeli-Owned Ship
A drone suspected of being launched by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has struck an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Indian Ocean, according to a US defence official.
“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” on Friday, the official said, adding it caused minor damage and nobody was injured.
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The attack comes almost a week after Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels seized an Israel-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea.
Earlier on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister of Huthi government in Yemen for Defense and Security said that the cease-fire “only pertains to Gaza,” adding that “our decision to close Red Sea to Israel remains in place.”
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With AFP
