Tel Aviv: Thirteen Israelis and four Thai nationals arrived in Israel on Sunday in the second batch of hostages released from Hamas captivity in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, after a delay of around seven hours over a dispute about aid delivery into Gaza.
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a post on X said that 13 Israelis and four foreign nationals had been handed over to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Hamas also publishes footage from its handover of some of the hostages as part of the temporary truce deal with Israel.
ילדים מוקפים במחבלי חמאס: החטופים הישראלים מועברים לצלב האדום | תיעוד@kaisos1987 pic.twitter.com/0XTrw2ep5I
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 25, 2023
Of the 13 Israelis released, six are women and seven children and teenagers. The youngest is three-year-old Yahel Shoham, freed with her mother and brother, although her father remains a hostage. “After undergoing an initial medical assessment, they will continue to be accompanied by IDF [Israeli Army] soldiers as they make their way to Israeli hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families,” the Israeli Army posted on X.
The hostages were released after spending 50 days in captivity. Hamas had abducted over 230 people in their October 7 raid on Israel.
In exchange for the Israeli hostages, 39 Palestinian civilians – six women and 33 minors – from two prisons, the Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
(With inputs from Reuters, Al Jazeera & NDTV)
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