Hamas returns 24 hostages from Gaza on first day of ceasefire
(Baonghean.vn) - Hamas militants released 24 hostages on November 24 – the first day of the first ceasefire agreement in the ongoing war.
The hostages included Israeli women and children and some Thai workers. After seven weeks, gunfire has temporarily fallen silent across the Gaza Strip.
The hostages were taken out of Gaza and handed over to Egyptian authorities at the Rafah border crossing, along with eight ICRC staff in a convoy of four vehicles, Reuters reported.
Qatar, which brokered the ceasefire, said 13 Israelis, some with dual nationality, were released, as well as 10 Thais and one Filipino. Thirty-nine Palestinian women and children were also released from Israeli prisons.
“We have just completed the return of the first group of hostages,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Mothers and children, and other women. Each of them is a world unto itself. But I emphasize to the families and to the citizens of Israel: We are committed to the repatriation of all our hostages.”
The released Israeli hostages included four children accompanied by four family members and five other elderly women.
The released hostages underwent medical examinations inside Israel before being taken to hospital to be reunited with their families, the Israeli military said.
Under the terms of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, 50 women and children will be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children among the thousands held in Israeli jails. Israel said the truce could be extended if 10 more hostages were released each day.
Those released on Friday were exchanged for 24 imprisoned Palestinian women and 15 teenagers.
The release of the Thai workers, all men, was unrelated to the ceasefire talks and followed a separate path brokered by Egypt and Qatar, a source close to the talks said.
Thai and Filipino farm workers working in southern Israel were among about 240 hostages taken to Gaza by gunmen when Hamas militants launched an attack on October 7.
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on social media that 12 Thai workers had been released, two more than the number given by Qatar. The reason for the discrepancy in the figures is not yet clear.
