Families of 24 hostages who returned to Israel from Gaza on Friday after being released by Hamas told how they "couldn't wait for the hours to pass" before seeing their loved ones.
The first stage of a swap between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas was carried out on Friday afternoon after the start of a four-day ceasefire, in which 50 hostages in Gaza are set to be released in exchange for the release of 150 Palestinians jailed in Israel.
There were hugs and cheers in the West Bank and Gaza as 39 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israeli authorities.
Hundreds of aid trucks entered Gaza on Friday to deliver desperately needed fuel, water, food and other supplies amid the pause in fighting.
Four children, including a two-year-old, their mothers and five elderly people over the age of 70 were among the Israeli hostages released almost seven weeks after they were held captive by Hamas following the incursion into southern Israel on October 7.
Ten Thai nationals and one citizen from the Philippines were also among those released from Gaza.
Names of the 13 Israeli hostages released from Gaza were confirmed by the government as: Doron Katz Asher, 34, Raz Asher, 4, and Aviv Asher, 2, Daniele Aloni, 45, and Emilia Aloni, 6, Ruth Munder, 78, Keren Munder, 54, and Ohad Munder, 9, and Adina Moshe, 72, Hanna Katzir, 76, Margalit Mozes, 77, Channah Peri, 79, and Yafa Adar, 85.
Most of the Israeli hostages were said to be in good health after returning to Israel, the hospital receiving them announced.
A statement from Schneider Children's hospital, where four women and four child hostages were released, said that they were all in good physical condition.
Israel says the ceasefire could be extended if more hostages are released, but it has vowed to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends.
That has dented hopes that the deal could eventually help wind down the conflict, which has fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflict across the Middle East.
US president Joe Biden said he thought the chances of an extension of the ongoing truce were "real." He also expressed hope that American nationals held by Hamas would be freed.
"I don't know how long it will take," Biden said on Friday. "My expectation and hope is that as we move forward, the rest of the Arab world and the region is also putting pressure on all sides to slow this down, to bring this to an end as quickly as we can."
After nightfall on Friday, ambulances emerged from Gaza through the Rafah Crossing into Egypt carrying the freed hostages, according to live footage on Egypt's state-run Al-Qahera TV.
The military said they were taken to hospitals in Israel to be reunited with their families.
In central Tel Aviv, a crowd of Israelis celebrated at the news.
Yael Adar spotted her mother, 85-year-old Yaffa Adar, in a TV newscast of the release and was cheered to see her walking.
"That was a huge concern, what would happen to her health during these almost two months," she told Israel's Channel 12.
But Yael's 38-year-old son, Tamir Adar, remained in captivity. We couldn't wait for the hours to pass," said Corinne Moshe, the daughter-in-law of released hostage 72-year-old Adina Moshe.
Her husband and his siblings were waiting at the hospital to reunite with their mother, who was captured by Hamas gunmen from Kibbutz Nir Oz, she told Israel's Kan public broadcaster.
Corinne's son Erez said he was waiting to see his grandmother.
"I miss her very, very much. I want her to be back already. I want to have dinner with her and the entire family again."
The hostages included multiple generations. Nine-year-old Ohad Munder-Zichri was freed along with his mother, Keren Munder, and grandmother Ruti Munder.
The child was abducted during a holiday visit to his grandparents at the kibbutz where about 80 people — nearly a quarter of all residents of the small community — are believed to have been taken hostage.
Hours later, 24 Palestinian women and 15 teenagers held in Israeli prisons in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem were freed.
In the West Bank town of Beituna, hundreds of Palestinians poured out of their homes to celebrate, honking horns and setting off fireworks that lit up the nights sky.
The teenagers had been jailed for minor offenses like throwing stones. The women included several convicted of trying to stab Israeli soldiers, and others who had been arrested at checkpoints in the West Bank.
"As a Palestinian, my heart is broken for my brothers in Gaza, so I can't really celebrate," said Abdulqader Khatib, a UN worker whose 17-year-old son, Iyas, was freed.
"But I am a father. And deep inside, I am very happy."
According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, an advocacy group, Israel is currently holding 7,200 Palestinians, including about 2,000 arrested since the start of the war.
After the truce began on Friday morning, four trucks of fuel and four trucks of cooking gas entered from Egypt, as well as 200 trucks of relief supplies, Israel said.Israel has barred all imports into Gaza throughout the war, except for a trickle of supplies from Egypt.
During the truce, Israel agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,340 gallons) of fuel per day, still believed to be a small portion of Gaza's estimated daily needs of more than one million liters.Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people are crowded into the southern portion of the territory.
Israel's northern border with Lebanon was also quiet on Friday, a day after the militant Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas, carried out the highest number of attacks in one day since fighting there began October 8.
Hezbollah is not a party to the ceasefire agreement but was widely expected to halt its attacks.
The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 200 hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death tolls.
