Closing summary
It’s approaching 7.15am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv and here’s where we’ll close this blog. Our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war will continue shortly. All the Guardian’s coverage can be seen here.
Here’s an overview of the latest key developments:
Thirteen Israelis and four Thai nationals released from Hamas captivity arrived in Israel on Sunday in the second step of the crucial hostage deal, which briefly risked falling apart due to a dispute over the delivery of aid supplies into Gaza. Television footage showed hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after leaving Gaza, as Hamas handed over the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross late on Saturday. Of the 13 Israelis released, six were women and seven were children and teenagers.
A bus carrying nearly three dozen Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank early on Sunday, following Hamas’ release of 17 hostages in the second round of exchanges. Hundreds of people greeted the International Committee of the Red Cross bus as it arrived in Al Bireh, Associated Press reported. Crowds chanted “God is great” as the bus arrived, and several young men stood on the roof of the vehicle. Many in the crowd held Hamas flags and chanted pro-Hamas slogans
The UN said 61 trucks carrying medical supplies, food and water had delivered their payloads in the northern Gaza Strip as the pause in fighting allows aid to enter the territory. Another 200 trucks had been dispatched to Gaza from Nitzana in Israel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Saturday, with 187 of them having made it past the border by the early evening local time.
Israeli troops killed six Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian ministry of health said. A 25-year-old doctor was killed early in the morning outside his home in Qabatiya, near Jenin, it said. Another Palestinian was killed in el-Bireh, near Ramallah. Four people were also killed by Israeli army fire in Jenin, during an incursion by a large number of armoured vehicles into the town. Witnesses told Agence France-Presse on Saturday that the Israeli army was surrounding Jenin’s public hospital and the Ibn Sina clinic, and that soldiers were searching ambulances. They also reported heavy fighting with automatic weapons.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli fire hit one of its patrols in the country’s south on Saturday, despite the Hamas-Israel truce largely quietening the Lebanon-Israel frontier. Around noon, a Unifil patrol was hit by Israeli military gunfire in the vicinity of Aitarun, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said. “No peacekeepers were injured, but the vehicle was damaged.”
Egypt said on Saturday it had received positive signals from all parties over a possible extension of the Gaza truce for one or two days, Reuters reported. Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, said the country was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement over extending the four-day ceasefire, which “means the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails”.
The number of Thai nationals believed to be held hostage by Hamas has increased by two, Thailand’s ministry of foreign affairs has said. This means that, after Saturday’s release of four more Thai hostages, a further 18 Thai nationals are still being held by Hamas.
The body of a Tanzanian student who went missing in Israel after the bloody Hamas attack last month was due to be returned home on Sunday, his family said. Clemence Felix Mtenga, 22, was one of two Tanzanians reported missing after the 7 October attack.
In the UK, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of London on Saturday to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in the latest major demonstration in the capital. Police were handing out leaflets to provide “absolute clarity” on what would be deemed an offence. It came after weeks of pressure on the force over the handling of the now-regular demonstrations.
Updated
Amid the second release of hostages by Hamas, the plight of those held by the Palestinian militant group has gripped the Israeli public’s attention, as the Associated Press reports.
Thousands of people gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday in solidarity with the hostages and their families. Many accuse prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not doing enough to bring the hostages home.
The releases – the latest of 17 hostages, including 13 Israelis, late on Saturday – have triggered mixed emotions: happiness, coupled with angst over the scores of hostages who remain in captivity.
Netanyahu’s office announced early on Sunday that it had received a new list of hostages slated to be released later in the day in the third of four scheduled swaps.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, hundreds of people burst into wild celebrations for a second night as a busload of Palestinian prisoners arrived early on Sunday after 39 were released by Israel.
Netanyahu’s office said the latest Israeli hostages released included seven children and six women and most were from Kibbutz Be’eri, a community Hamas militants ravaged during their 7 October attack. The children ranged in age from 3 to 16, and the women ranged from 18 to 67.
It was a bittersweet moment for the residents of Be’eri, who have been living in a Dead Sea hotel since their community was overrun. A kibbutz spokesperson said all the released hostages either had a family member killed in the 7 October rampage or had left a loved one in captivity in Gaza.
The mother of one of the released hostages, 12-year-old Hila Rotem, remained in captivity, the spokesperson said. Another, Emily Hand, is a girl whose father believed her to be dead for weeks before finding out she was held as a hostage.
At their hotel, kibbutz residents gathered in a function room, cheering in excitement as they saw the first images of their loved ones being released on television.
Updated
In case you missed this earlier, who were the 24 hostages that Hamas released on Friday in the first round of exchanges?
They comprised 13 Israelis, 10 Thai citizens and a Filipino man.
The Israeli hostages included four children with female relatives, who were all visiting family at Nir Oz kibbutz when Hamas attacked on 7 October, and five elderly women, four of them residents of Nir Oz and one from a nearby kibbutz.
The other hostages had been working in the area, part of a large migrant labour force doing caring, agricultural and other work inside Israel.
Emma Graham-Harrison has details on the 24 freed here:
Here’s more on how the hostage and prisoner release agreement between Israel and Hamas briefly risked collapse before Saturday’s releases.
Reuters details how the deal was in danger of derailment earlier in the day after the armed wing of Hamas said it was delaying the scheduled second round of hostage releases until Israel met all truce conditions, including committing to let aid trucks into northern Gaza.
Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan said only 65 of 340 aid trucks that had entered Gaza since Friday had reached northern Gaza, which was “less than half of what Israel agreed on”.
The Israel Defence Forces said that inside the Gaza Strip, distribution of the aid was implemented by the United Nations and international organisations.
The UN said 61 trucks of aid were delivered to northern Gaza on Saturday, the largest number since 7 October. They included food, water and emergency medical supplies.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing, also said Israel had failed to respect the terms of the Palestinian prisoner releases and that prisoners were not freed based on their time in detention.
A Qatari foreign ministry spokesman, Majed Al-Ansari, said on Saturday that there been “a lot of discussion” on how and whom to prioritise for release, and on the Palestinian side, a key criterion was the length of time spent in Israeli prisons.
He told CNN:
We are now hopeful that with the second or the third day of this pause, we would be able to hash out a lot of these details that made this day so difficult.
Ensuring that the deal did not collapse took a day of high-stakes diplomacy mediated by Qatar and Egypt, a process in which US president Joe Biden also participated by calling the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Updated
Seventeen hostages released by Hamas arrive in Israel
Thirteen Israelis and four Thai nationals released from Hamas captivity arrived in Israel on Sunday in the second step of the crucial hostage deal, Reuters reports.
The agreement briefly risked falling apart due to a dispute over the delivery of aid supplies into Gaza.
The short-lived dispute that threatened the temporary ceasefire to free captives was overcome with the mediation of Qatar and Egypt, but it underscored the fragility of the agreement, under which a total of 50 Israeli hostages are to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners over four days.
Television footage showed hostages on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing after leaving Gaza, as Hamas handed over the captives to the International Committee of the Red Cross late on Saturday.
Of the 13 Israelis released, six were women and seven were children and teenagers.
The Israel Defence Forces said in a statement:
The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families.
In exchange, 39 Palestinian prisoners were released from two Israeli prisons – six were women and 33 were minors, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Updated
The number of Thai nationals believed to be held hostage by Hamas has increased by two, Thailand’s ministry of foreign affairs has said.
This means that, after Saturday’s late-night release of a second group of four Thai hostages, there are a further 18 Thai nationals still being held by Hamas.
The ministry said:
The Thai government will continue to make every effort towards the safe release and return of those remaining Thai nationals.
The first group of 10 Thai nationals was released on Friday.
Thai prime minister Srettha Thavisin has named the four Thai nationals recently released by Hamas.
They are: Natthaphon Onkaew, Khomkrit Chombua, Anucha Angkaew and Manee Jirachat.
Thavisin said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter):
From the initial physical examination
– Everyone is healthy. No one needed urgent medical attention.
– Everyone talks and walks normally.
– Everyone is happy to be released. Overall, mental health is in a good state. They can talk normally. They want to take a shower and contact their families.
Currently on the way to Shamir Medical Center Hospital (Assaf Harofe).
Thank you to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Security Department.
ดีใจด้วยครับ เมื่อ วันที่ 25พ.ย. เวลา 23:50 (เวลาท้องถิ่น) ตัวประกันไทยได้รับการปล่อยตัว
— Srettha Thavisin (@Thavisin) November 26, 2023
มีรายชื่อดังนี้
1.นัฐพร อ่อนแก้ว
2.คมกฤษ ชมบัว
3.อนุชา อ่างแก้ว
4.มณี จิระชาติ
จากการตรวจร่างกายในเบื้องต้น
- ทุกคนสุขภาพดี ไม่มีใครต้องการการรักษาพยาบาลเร่งด่วน
-…
A bus carrying nearly three dozen Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank early on Sunday, following Hamas’ release of 17 hostages in the second round of exchanges under the temporary ceasefire agreement.
Hundreds of people greeted the International Committee of the Red Cross bus as it arrived in Al Bireh, Associated Press reports.
Crowds chanted “God is great” as the bus arrived, and several young men stood on the roof of the vehicle. Many in the crowd held Hamas flags and chanted pro-Hamas slogans.
Here are some of the latest images of the scenes:
Updated
Sixty-one trucks deliver aid to northern Gaza, says UN
The United Nations has said 61 trucks carrying medical supplies, food and water have delivered their payloads in the northern Gaza Strip, as a pause in fighting allows aid to enter the territory.
Another 200 trucks had been dispatched to Gaza from Nitzana in Israel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Saturday, with 187 of them having made it past the border by the early evening local time, Agence France-Presse reports.
Eleven ambulances, three coaches and a flatbed were delivered to al-Shifa hospital, which had seen heavy fighting in recent days, “to assist with evacuations”, the OCHA statement said.
The longer the pause lasts, the more aid humanitarian agencies will be able to send in and across Gaza.
The OCHA thanked the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent groups.
The day before, when a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas began in order to facilitate the hostage and prisoner exchange, a total of 137 trucks had delivered aid in Gaza, the UN said.
Updated
Fresh images are coming through the news agency wires of Hamas’ release of hostages under its exchange deal with Israel:
Updated
Israel frees 39 Palestinian prisoners – reports
Israeli authorities have released 39 Palestinian prisoners, including six women and 33 children, from two prisons as part of the second batch of the exchange deal with Hamas, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said early on Sunday, Reuters reports.
Here are some images coming through the newswires of what is reported to be a Palestinian prisoner released by Israel reuniting with her family in Jerusalem as other Palestinians celebrate their return.
This is Adam Fulton picking up our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. Stay with us for all the latest developments.
Updated
Israeli troops killed six Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian ministry of health said.
Agence France-Presse reports:
A 25-year-old doctor was killed early in the morning outside his home in Qabatiya, near Jenin, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups in the north of the territory, the ministry said.
Another Palestinian was killed in el-Bireh, near Ramallah.
Four people were also killed by Israeli army fire in Jenin, during an incursion by a large number of armoured vehicles into the town, which was recently the scene of the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank in almost 20 years.
Witnesses told AFP on Saturday that the Israeli army was surrounding Jenin’s public hospital and the Ibn Sina clinic, and that soldiers were searching ambulances.
They also reported heavy fighting with automatic weapons.
The West Bank has seen an uptick in violence since the October 7 cross-border attack on Israel by Hamas last month, in which militants from the Gaza Strip killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to the Israeli authorities.
Israel has since responded with a bombing and land campaign in Gaza, killing nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas government.
All the while, some 230 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers, according to the Palestinian Authority’s ministry of health.
Here are some videos surfacing on social media of what appears to be Palestinians released from Israeli prison tonight reuniting with families and friends:
🧵 Thread showing the release tonight of the second group of Palestinian women and children by Israeli occupation forces, as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) November 25, 2023
1. Shorok Dweiiat from Sour Baher, Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/5d9kACyvlZ
2. Nourhan Awwad, Qalandiah RC, S Ramallah pic.twitter.com/wWA9bAsaig
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) November 25, 2023
3. Omar Shoiki (kid). Silwan, Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/MEaTog7E7d
— Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) November 25, 2023
Palestinians released from Israeli prison arrive in Jerusalem - Palestinian news agency WAFA
Al Jazeera TV broadcast live footage late on Saturday of a bus that it says was carrying Palestinians released from an Israeli prison passing in the West Bank town of Beitunia, among celebrating Palestinian crowds, Reuters reports.
Separately, a number of newly released Palestinians have arrived in Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
A nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl was among the group of hostages released by Hamas on Saturday, Ireland’s prime minister said in a statement.
“This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family,” said Leo Varadkar, the prime minister of the Republic of Ireland.
“An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.”
This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 25, 2023
Emily, who was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, turned nine earlier this month while being held captive.
Her father, Thomas Hand, who was born in Ireland and later moved to Israel, told the Agence France-Presse earlier this month that initially he had thought his daughter had been killed in the attack.
“Later on we had an eyewitness ... [who] saw her being led away by the terrorists, into a van off to Gaza” after the attack on the Be’eri kibbutz, he told AFP.
Updated
Red Cross says it has concluded release of 17 hostages held in Gaza
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Saturday it had concluded the release of 17 hostages held in Gaza, Reuters reports.
“Our teams have transported these 17 people from within Gaza to the Rafah border, where they were handed over to Israeli authorities,” an ICRC spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.
The ICRC team consisted of eight staff members, including a doctor, travelling in four vehicles, he said.
The neutral, Swiss-based organisation already facilitated the release and transfer of Gaza-held hostages and Palestinian detainees on Friday under the terms of a four-day truce.
Relatives of the hostages released by Hamas tonight are celebrating the return of their loved ones.
Inbal Tzach, the cousin of Adi Shoham, who was released together with her family from Hamas captivity tonight, announced:
Like everyone else we watched our loved ones on their way home. We saw Adi with Nave, Yahal, Shoshan, Noam and Sharon. Of course we are still waiting for Tal to come home, as well as for everyone else. The struggle has not ended. This is the saddest joy and the happiest sadness, but our family is home. Keep fighting with us. We still have a long way to go. This is an emotional evening for the families who received their loved ones tonight. We will continue the struggle until everyone comes home.
Zohar Avigdori, uncle of Noam Avigdori and sister-in-law of Sharon Avigdori, who were released from captivity tonight, said:
We are very excited, our legs are shaking and we are impatiently waiting to hug our loved ones, Noam and Sharon. We don’t forget for a moment that these are the same legs that will continue the journey to sustain us in the long journey that is still ahead of us - until the safe return of all the hostages.
Updated
More names are now coming through of those released tonight by Hamas.
They include four members from the same family: Shoshan Haran, 67, a charity worker, her daughter Adi Shoham, 38, a clinical psychologist, and her two children, Nave, 8, and Yael, 3. Not on the release list is Adi’s husband, Tal, father to the children.
Also included is Shiri Weiss, 53, who worked as an accountant in Kibbutz Be’eri, and her daugther Noga Weiss, 18, but not her husband, Noga’s father, Ilan. No adult men from Israel are scheduled to be released among the first 50 promised by Hamas.
Maya Regev, 21, is also included. She was captured at the Supernova music festival at Re’im, just a few hours after coming into the country from a holiday in Mexico. Her brother Itay, 18, and their friend Omer She-Tov were also taken hostage and have not been released.
Here is the full list of Israelis released tonight:
Noam Avigdori (12)
Sharon Hertzman Avigdori (52)
Emily Toni Kornberg Hand (8)
Shoshan Haran (67)
Maya Regev Jirbi (21)
Alma Or (13)
Noam Or (16)
Adi Shoham (38)
Naveh Shoham (8)
Yahel Shoham (3)
Hila Rotem Shoshani (12)
Noga Weiss (18)
Shiri Weiss (53)
Updated
Here is video released by Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari of the moment that the hostages arrived in Israel:
תיעוד של רגע כניסת השבים ארצה לשטח מדינת ישראל: pic.twitter.com/UPsUdRoUdR
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) November 25, 2023
“After undergoing an initial assessment of their medical condition, our forces will accompany the returnees until they reach their families in the hospitals,” Hagari tweeted.
יחידה מובחרת של צה״ל וכוח של השב"כ מלווים כעת בשטח ישראל את החטופים השבים ארצה. לאחר שיעברו הערכה ראשונית של מצבם הרפואי, כוחותינו ילוו את השבים עד להגעתם לחיק משפחותיהם בבתי החולים.
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) November 25, 2023
מפקדי צה״ל וחייליו מצדיעים ומחבקים את החטופים השבים עם חזרתם הביתה >>
Updated
Some hostage names are coming through via the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. It looks like they will all or primarily be from one kibbutz, Be’eri.
Sharon Avigdori: 52 years old, a drama therapist who works with people on the autism spectrum, and her daughter Noam Avigdori: 12 years old, about to celebrate her bat mitzvah. Both were captured from kibbutz Be’eri.
Alma Or, 13, and brother Noam Or, 17, both kidnapped with their father, Dror, who was not released. Their mother, Yonat, was murdered on 7 October.
Emily Hand, 9, who celebrated her birthday on Friday night. At one point she had been feared dead by her family, but evidence emerged that she was being held in Gaza, and on Saturday night she was released.
Hila Rotem, 13 years old: although she managed to escape from her home in Kibbutz Be’eri, she was found in the bushes by Hamas fighters and taken to Gaza for nearly 50 days. Her mother, Raaya, was also kidnapped.
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires of what appears to be the hostages including 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals crossing into Egypt via the International Red Cross:
Updated
Seventeen hostages including 13 Israelis and 4 Thai nationals en route to Kerem Shalom border crossing
Seventeen hostages, including 13 Israelis and 4 Thai nationals, have been transferred by the Red Cross into Egypt and are making their way to the Kerem Shalom border crossing in southern Israel, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari tweeted.
לפני זמן קצר העבירו נציגי הצלב האדום את החטופים למצרים. על פי המידע שנמסר לצה"ל הועברו 17 חטופים בהם 13 ישראלים וארבעה חטופים בעלי אזרחות תאילנדית.
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) November 25, 2023
שיירת החטופים השבים ארצה עושה דרכה בשטח מצרים לנקודת המפגש בכרם שלום >>
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari also confirmed the number of hostages released, tweeting:
تحديث ميداني: تم تسليم ١٣ من حملة الجنسية الإسرائيلية و٤ أجانب إلى الصليب الأحمر وهم في طريقهم إلى رفح. https://t.co/VHt9YLdP99
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 25, 2023
Here are some images emerging on social media of what appears to be Red Cross vehicles by the Rafah border crossing carrying Israeli hostages and several foreign nationals as they exit Gaza:
NEW: 13 Israeli hostages and several foreign nationals have made their way to the Rafah Crossing after being handed over to the Red Cross. pic.twitter.com/mlFGueH7D7
— Hamdah Salhut (@hamdahsalhut) November 25, 2023
Finally- the hostages have arrived in Red Cross vehicles to the Rafah Crossing. Soon they will cross the border into Israel. pic.twitter.com/ilPMga0wfh
— Avital Leibovich (@AvitalLeibovich) November 25, 2023
عاجل| تغطية صحفية.. القـ.ـسـ،ـــام يفرج عن 13 من الأسرى لديه بالإضافة لأربعة من الأجانب والآن يصلون معبر رفح جنوب قطاع غزة. pic.twitter.com/jOzZMZqGJd
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) November 25, 2023
Updated
Israeli Defense Forces say hostages handed to Red Cross and on their way to Rafah border crossing
According to information provided by the Red Cross, the hostages are on their way to the Rafah border crossing, Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari tweeted.
על פי המידע שנמסר מהצלב האדום, החטופים בדרכם למעבר רפיח בשטח רצועת עזה.
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי - Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) November 25, 2023
An Egyptian government source has also said that the Red Cross has received hostages in Gaza and are on their way to the Rafah border crossing, Reuters reports.
Updated
Here is more from Reuters on the call between the US president, Joe Biden, and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, earlier today regarding the holdup over the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas:
US president Joe Biden spoke on Saturday with Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the hold-up over the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, spokesperson Adrienne Watson for the White House national security council said.
The White House, following the call at 1:30 pm EST, learned from the Qataris that the hostage agreement was back on and the International Committee of the Red Cross was moving to collect the hostages. Biden was briefed throughout Saturday morning and on the latest of the hostage deal implementation, Watson said.
Updated
Israel said that its hostage release effort remains underway, despite a holdup in the process earlier today which Qatar said has been resolved.
“The effort tonight is advancing,” R Adm Daniel Hagari said at a regular briefing on Saturday ahead of the second group of Israeli and foreign hostages to be released in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons as part of a four-day temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.
Updated
The Qatari emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has received a call from the US president, Joe Biden, to discuss the implementation of the truce deal between Israel and Hamas, Reuters reports.
The two leaders also discussed ways to reduce further escalation and increase aid flow to Gaza.
Updated
39 Palestinians to be exchanged for 13 Israelis and seven foreigners, Qatar says
Hamas announced on Saturday its appreciation for Qatari- and Egyptian-led efforts at ensuring the continuation of a temporary ceasefire agreement between the group and Israel that began on Friday, Reuters reports.
Hamas said in a statement that the Egyptian and Qatari parties had confirmed Israel’s commitment to all the terms and conditions of the agreement.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian official familiar with the diplomacy said Hamas would continue with the four-day truce agreed with Israel, the first break in fighting in seven weeks of war.
In a post on X, a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed al Ansari, said:
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.
بعد تأخر في تنفيذ الإفراج عن الأسرى من الجانبين، تم تذليل العقبات عبر الاتصالات القطرية المصرية مع الجانبين وسيتم الإفراج الليلة عن ٣٩ من المدنيين الفلسطينيين في مقابل خروج ١٣ من المحتجزين الإسرائيليين من غزة بالإضافة إلى ٧ من الأجانب خارج إطار الاتفاق.
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 25, 2023
He added that the Palestinians to be released from Israeli prisons include 33 children and six women, while the Israeli hostages released from Gaza include eight children and five women, in addition to seven foreigners, saying:
يتضمن المفرج عنهم من السجون الإسرائيلية ٣٣ من الأطفال و٦ نساء، بينما يضم المفرج عنهم من غزة ٨ من الأطفال و٥ من النساء، بالإضافة إلى ٧ من الأجانب.
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 25, 2023
We reiterate our appreciation for the efforts of our mediation partners, Egypt and the US, for the joint efforts that removed obstacles to implementing the terms of the agreement for today.
نكرر تقديرنا لجهود شركائنا في الوساطة جمهورية مصر العربية والولايات المتحدة الأمريكية للجهود المشتركة التي أزالت العقبات أمام تنفيذ بنود الاتفاق لهذا اليوم.
— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 25, 2023
Updated
Qatari and Egyptian mediators say delay resolved in exchange of hostages and Palestinians held in Israeli prisons
Qatari and Egyptian mediators say Hamas agreed to release 13 Israelis and seven foreigners on Saturday in exchange for 39 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, the Associated Press reports.
The announcement came after Hamas delayed the releases for several hours, saying Israel had violated the terms of a truce deal that had set the stage for such swaps. Saturday marked the second day of what was meant to be a four-day truce.
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Tel Aviv and the West Bank ahead of the highly anticipated release of hostages held Hamas and Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons:
Updated
Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan told a press conference on Saturday that Israel has not fulfilled its part of their truce agreement and that it had informed the mediators about Israel’s violations, Reuters reports.
He also said the group affirmed its commitment to the truce sponsored by Egypt and Qatar that began on Friday.
Hamdan said a total of 340 aid trucks had entered Gaza since Friday and that 65 of those trucks had reached northern Gaza - “which was less than half of what Israel agreed on”.
Updated
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli fire hit one of its patrols in the country’s south on Saturday, despite a Hamas-Israel truce largely quietening the Lebanon-Israel frontier.
Agence France-Presse reports:
“At around 12:00 pm, a UNIFIL patrol was hit by IDF (Israeli army) gunfire” in the vicinity of Aitarun, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said in a statement.
“No peacekeepers were injured, but the vehicle was damaged,” it said, adding that “this incident occurred during a period of relative calm” along the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen intensifying exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, but also Palestinian groups, raising fears of a broader conflagration.
A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas began on Friday, and a source close to Hezbollah told AFP that the Iran-backed group would also adhere to the ceasefire if Israel did.
UNIFIL said “this attack on peacekeepers, dedicated to reducing tensions and restoring stability in south Lebanon, is deeply troubling,” adding: “We condemn this act.”
Late last month, shelling lightly wounded a UN peacekeeper near the border village of Hula, just hours after UNIFIL said a shell hit its headquarters in Naqura near the Israel-Lebanon frontier.
The force said it was investigating those incidents.
“We strongly remind the parties of their obligations to protect peacekeepers and avoid putting the men and women who are working to restore stability at risk,” Saturday’s UNIFIL statement said.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Saturday that it had successfully delivered humanitarian aid to the northern governorate of Gaza in what it described as the “largest convoy” since 7 October.
The convoy consisted of 61 trucks of aid assistance including food, water, medicine and emergency medical supplies.
The Palestine Red Crescent successfully delivered humanitarian aid today to the city of #Gaza and the northern governorate of #Gaza in the largest convoy since the start of the continuous aggression on the Strip for the fiftieth consecutive day.#HumantarianAid #HumantarianHeros pic.twitter.com/rJSFTYckrx
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 25, 2023
🔴 The largest convoy of 61 trucks of aid assistance to the #Gaza and the North governorates loaded with food and non-food items, water, primary health care medicines, and emergency medical supplies, from aid that entered through Rafah today as well as from PRCS warehouses in the… pic.twitter.com/NMrQqiYo2R
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 25, 2023
Updated
Egypt is trying to resolve the delay in the second round of Israeli hostage releases from Gaza, a Palestinian official familiar with the matter who did not want to be named told Reuters on Saturday.
The delay comes as Hamas cited issues about the entry of aid into northern Gaza as well as the selection criteria of Palestinians currently detained in Israeli prisons.
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires of the pro-Palestine rally in London on Saturday where tens of thousands took to the streets to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes in the last seven weeks:
Updated
Hamas says hostage handover delayed until Israel "adheres to agreement"
The armed wing of Hamas said on Saturday it was delaying the handover of a second group of hostages as part of a temporary ceasefire deal until Israel “adheres to the terms of the agreement”, Agence France-Presse reports.
According to the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades, the entry of aid into northern Gaza and the selection criteria for the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons were in question.
A Hamas source told AFP that the handover of 14 hostages to the Red Cross had begun, and then said the transfer process had been halted.
An Israeli official said the hostages had not yet been handed over to the Red Cross. “Israel has not violated the agreement,” an Israeli source told AFP.
Updated
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in London on Saturday to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the last seven weeks.
According to the AFP news agency, Saturday’s march was the latest large pro-Palestine demonstration to take place in London since 7 October.
About 1,500 police officers were deployed to the streets for the protest, including 500 who were brought in from outside London.
There were no immediate reports of violence at the demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Stop the War Coalition, AFP reports.
“We come to show our solidarity and tell the Palestinians they are not alone, we are thinking about them and we are not gonna stop until they are free,” 25-year-old student Leila told AFP.
• This post was amended on 27 November 2023 because we had incorrectly attributed the reporting to Reuters, when it was from AFP. A personal detail was also removed.
Updated
Hamas delays second release of hostages until Israel lets aid into northern Gaza - reports
The armed wing of Hamas said on Saturday that it had decided to delay the second round of hostage releases until Israel is committed to letting aid trucks enter northern Gaza, Reuters reports.
Earlier today, Israeli media outlets including the Jerusalem Post reported security sources saying that Egypt had received a list from Hamas of 13 hostages to be released today.
Here is some information about the 24 hostages released by Hamas on Friday, including 13 Israelis, one Filipino man and 10 Thai citizens.
The Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison reports:
The Israeli hostages included four children with female relatives, who had all been visiting family at Nir Oz kibbutz when Hamas attacked on 7 October, and five elderly women, four of them residents of Nir Oz and one from a nearby kibbutz.
The other hostages had been working in the area, part of a large migrant labour force doing caring, agricultural and other work inside Israel. They were not part of the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
For further details, click here:
Updated
Summary
Here is a round-up of the day’s main developments so far:
Egypt said on Saturday it had received positive signals from all parties over a possible extension of the Gaza truce for one or two days, Reuters reports. Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement that the country was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement over extending the four-day truce, which “means the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.”
Israel’s Prison Service said on Saturday it was preparing 42 prisoners for release, suggesting Hamas would release 14 Israeli hostages, AP reported. There has been no official Israeli announcement on the number of hostages to be freed on Saturday, though Hamas handed a list of names to the authorities late on Friday. It was not immediately clear how many non-Israeli captives might also be released.
Egypt has received a list from the Palestinian militant group Hamas of 14 hostages to be released on Saturday, security sources said. Earlier on Saturday, Israel also said it had received a list of hostages to be freed from Gaza on Saturday by Hamas, Reuters reported.
Iran facilitated Friday’s release of 10 Thai hostages from Gaza, providing a list of names to Hamas after a request to do so by Thailand’s foreign ministry and parliamentary speaker, Iran’s embassy in Thailand said on social media on Saturday. “This request was accepted by Hamas and 10 Thai hostages were released after the ceasefire,” it said.
The second day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has allowed critical humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and given civilians their first respite after seven weeks of war. The UN said the pause enabled it to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the resumption of humanitarian aid convoys on 21 October, Associated Press reports.
It was also able to deliver 129,000 litres of fuel – just over 10% of the daily pre-war volume – as well as cooking gas, for the first time since the war began. In the southern city of Khan Younis on Saturday, a long line of people with gas cans and other containers waited outside a filling station hoping to get some of the newly delivered fuel.
A Polish citizen was among hostages released from Gaza on Friday, Reuters reports. Poland’s foreign ministry confirmed the news in a statement: “We welcome the information about the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which allowed the release of the first group of hostages, including a Polish citizen, and increased supplies of humanitarian aid to the enclave,” the ministry said in a statement.
More than three dozen Palestinian prisoners returned home to a heroes’ welcome in the occupied West Bank on Friday after their release from Israeli prisons as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the Associated Press reports. The freed prisoners, some accused of minor offences and others convicted in attacks, were greeted at a checkpoint outside Jerusalem by a massive crowd of chanting, clapping, hand-waving and shouting Palestinians.
The body of a Tanzanian student who went missing in Israel after the bloody Hamas attack last month is due to be returned home on Sunday, his family said. Clemence Felix Mtenga, 22, was one of two Tanzanians reported missing after the 7 October attack that saw around 1,200 people killed and around 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
The US president, Joe Biden, said the chances were “real” that the temporary Israel-Hamas ceasefire could be extended. He said Friday’s hostage release was the “start of a process” and that he “will not stop” until all remaining hostages in Gaza were brought home. The deal reached by Israel and Hamas involved “extensive US diplomacy”, Biden said, adding: “It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well.” He also said he expected US citizens to be among the hostages who would be released.
Most of the Israeli hostages released by Hamas were said to be in good health after returning to Israel, the hospital receiving them announced. Schneider Children’s hospital, where four women and four child hostages were released, said doctors had conducted a preliminary examination and said they were all in in good physical condition.
A container ship managed by an Israeli-controlled company was hit by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean, causing minor damage to the vessel but no injuries, Reuters reports a US defence official saying. The Malta-flagged CMA CGM SYMI, recently renamed Mayet, was struck on Friday by an unmanned aerial vehicle, which appeared to be an Iranian Shahed-136 drone, the official said.
In the UK, Metropolitan police officers are to hand out leaflets to demonstrators to provide “absolute clarity” on what will be deemed an offence, as more than 100,000 people are expected to join a pro-Palestine march on Saturday. More than 1,500 officers will be on duty in London as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) marches from Park Lane to Whitehall in protest over the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Met police said 500 officers from outside London would be on duty.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Maya Yang will be along shortly to continue bringing you the latest news from the Israel-Hamas war.
Updated
Qatari delegation reportedly in Israel for talks over possible ceasefire extension
A Qatari delegation visited Israel on Saturday to discuss a possible extension of a four-day ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that started on Friday, an official briefed on the visit said.
The Qatari operations team also coordinated with Israeli officials to ensure the ceasefire and hostage releases continue smoothly, the official said.
Updated
More from that AFP feature:
Even for those whose loved ones have returned, the joy is tempered by the thoughts of others.
In a video released by the hostage families’ forum, Roy Zichri Munder, whose brother was released on Friday, said: “We are not in a festive mood today, we are happy but we are not festive because there are more hostages detained.”
He offered his support to those still being held. “You will be back soon,” he told them, urging their families: “Don’t lose hope.”
For most, the wait goes on.
Nadav Rudaeff has had no indication of life for his 61-year-old father, Lior, an ambulance driver and volunteer medic who had a heart attack two years ago.
“We are very concerned because he has no medicine,” he said.
Ruby Chen has also had no news about the fate of his son, 19-year-old soldier Itai, snatched while on duty protecting kibbutzim in the area.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling of not knowing if your kid is alive or not,” he said. “It’s something beyond pain.”
For days, the family did not know where he was. Their middle son was listed as “missing in action” until at 6am one day, two army officers knocked at their door.
Immediately they suspected the worst.
“That means someone’s going to give you a very bad message. Your heart stops,” he said.
“But we are the lucky ones: the notification we got was that Itai was abducted,” he went on, “not the other notification that many others got that day.”
Updated
There is a stark account of how the families of hostages are dealing with being parted from their loved ones published by AFP today.
It reads:
For some families, returning Gaza hostages bring ‘sign of life’.
When the first group of Israeli hostages was released from Gaza as part of a ceasefire, Noam Peri’s elderly father was not among them. But they brought with them news that he was still alive.
“We have a sign of life from my father, we know he’s alive from other people from the community who were released yesterday,” said Peri, whose 79-year-old father, Haim, was snatched from his home in Nir Oz kibbutz near the Gaza border by Hamas militants on 7 October.
Without giving details, she said she had received the news from some of the 13 people who returned to Israel on Friday, the first day of a four-day ceasefire and exchange deal with Hamas, in which hostages held in Gaza would be swapped for dozens of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
All but one of the hostages released on Friday - among them six elderly women, three mothers and their four children - were from Nir Oz, one of the hardest hit communities when Hamas militants stormed across the border, killing around 1,200 people in southern Israel and kidnapping about 240 others.
Israel has responded with a heavy aerial campaign and ground invasion that has killed 15,000 people, including thousands of children, according to authorities in Hamas-run Gaza.
In Nir Oz, 75 people were abducted and 29 killed, Peri said. “So one out of four people from this community were either murdered or kidnapped,” many of them neighbours or lifelong friends of her parents, kibbutz veterans.
Hearing that her father was still alive has given the family fresh hope, but they have no guarantees he will be getting out soon, if at all – the hostages to be released under the ceasefire deal are women and children aged 18 or under.
“It brings a lot of hope but we don’t know how much time they’re going to be able to hold on there,” she said, describing her father as “a brave man but not a healthy man” who survived a heart attack and “depends on medication to survive”.
Updated
Egypt says it received 'positive signals' over possible extension of Gaza ceasefire
Egypt said on Saturday it had received positive signals from all parties over a possible extension of the Gaza ceasefire for one or two days, Reuters reports.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement that the country was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement over extending the four-day ceasefire, which “means the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails”.
Updated
Updated
A Polish citizen was among hostages released from Gaza on Friday, Reuters reports.
Poland’s foreign ministry confirmed the news in a statement: “We welcome the information about the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which allowed the release of the first group of hostages, including a Polish citizen, and increased supplies of humanitarian aid to the enclave,” the ministry said in a statement.
“At the same time, Poland continues to firmly demand that Israel consent to the safe departure from the Gaza Strip by other Polish citizens.”
The body of a Tanzanian student who went missing in Israel after the bloody Hamas attack last month is due to be returned home on Sunday, his family said.
Clemence Felix Mtenga, 22, was one of two Tanzanians reported missing after the 7 October attack that saw around 1,200 people killed and around 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Tanzania’s foreign ministry confirmed Mtenga’s death in a statement on 18 November, but did not say how he had been killed.
“We were to receive the body today but there are changes. We expect to have it tomorrow,” his sister Christina Mtenga told Agence France-Presse by phone on Saturday.
She said the funeral would take place on Tuesday in the family’s home district of Rombo in the Kilimanjaro area of northern Tanzania.
Updated
A container ship managed by an Israeli-controlled company was hit by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean, causing minor damage to the vessel but no injuries, Reuters reports a US defence official saying.
The Malta-flagged CMA CGM SYMI, recently renamed Mayet, was struck on Friday by an unmanned aerial vehicle, which appeared to be an Iranian Shahed-136 drone, the official said.
Iran has supplied Shahed drones to Russia for use in Ukraine. They carry a small warhead that explodes on impact.
The incident comes amid heightened maritime security tensions due to the Israel-Hamas war and follows the seizure of an Israeli-linked cargo ship by Yemeni Houthis, allies of Iran, in the southern Red Sea earlier this week. Israel called the vessel’s seizure an “Iranian act of terrorism”.
Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which had rented Mayet, said it was aware a container ship was targeted in a possible security incident on Friday.
There was no immediate comment from Iran or Israel.
Updated
Afternoon summary
Here is a round-up of the day’s main developments so far:
Israel’s Prison Service said on Saturday it was preparing 42 prisoners for release, suggesting Hamas would release 14 Israeli hostages, AP reported. There has been no official Israeli announcement on the number of hostages to be freed on Saturday, though Hamas handed a list of names to the authorities late on Friday. It was not immediately clear how many non-Israeli captives might also be released.
Egypt has received a list from the Palestinian militant group Hamas of 14 hostages to be released on Saturday, security sources said. Earlier on Saturday, Israel also said it had received a list of hostages to be freed from Gaza on Saturday by Hamas, Reuters reported.
Iran facilitated Friday’s release of 10 Thai hostages from Gaza, providing a list of names to Hamas after a request to do so by Thailand’s foreign ministry and parliamentary speaker, Iran’s embassy in Thailand said on social media on Saturday. “This request was accepted by Hamas and 10 Thai hostages were released after the ceasefire,” it said.
The second day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has allowed critical humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and given civilians their first respite after seven weeks of war. The UN said the pause enabled it to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the resumption of humanitarian aid convoys on 21 October, Associated Press reports.
It was also able to deliver 129,000 litres of fuel – just over 10% of the daily pre-war volume – as well as cooking gas, for the first time since the war began. In the southern city of Khan Younis on Saturday, a long line of people with gas cans and other containers waited outside a filling station hoping to get some of the newly delivered fuel.
More than three dozen Palestinian prisoners returned home to a heroes’ welcome in the occupied West Bank on Friday after their release from Israeli prisons as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the Associated Press reports. The freed prisoners, some accused of minor offences and others convicted in attacks, were greeted at a checkpoint outside Jerusalem by a massive crowd of chanting, clapping, hand-waving and shouting Palestinians.
The US president, Joe Biden, said the chances were “real” that the temporary Israel-Hamas ceasefire could be extended. He said Friday’s hostage release was the “start of a process” and that he “will not stop” until all remaining hostages in Gaza were brought home. The deal reached by Israel and Hamas involved “extensive US diplomacy”, Biden said, adding: “It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well.” He also said he expected US citizens to be among the hostages who would be released.
Most of the Israeli hostages released by Hamas were said to be in good health after returning to Israel, the hospital receiving them announced. Schneider Children’s hospital, where four women and four child hostages were released, said doctors had conducted a preliminary examination and said they were all in in good physical condition.
In the UK, Metropolitan police officers are to hand out leaflets to demonstrators to provide “absolute clarity” on what will be deemed an offence, as more than 100,000 people are expected to join a pro-Palestine march on Saturday. More than 1,500 officers will be on duty in London as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) marches from Park Lane to Whitehall in protest over the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Met police said 500 officers from outside London would be on duty.
Updated
A pro-Palestine march calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza has set off in central London.
Thousands of demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags and placards began walking down Park Lane from Marble Arch towards Piccadilly.
Updated
On the 45th day of the bombing of Gaza, eight-year-old Waseem Abedrabou and his father Husam, left the family home for a night to stay with Husam’s mother.
“[His mother Abeer] doesn’t let Waseem sleep a metre away from her, but she let him sleep in that house that day,” said Dina Safi, Waseem’s aunt. “Husam wanted to see his family and Waseem wanted to see his grandma.”
Abeer would never see either of them again. An Israeli airstrike hit the house Waseem and Husam were staying in, devastating the large home, which housed five units of their extended family in Nuseirat refugee camp – south of the point in Gaza where the enclave’s population were ordered to evacuate.
Waseem’s uncle pulled the boy’s lifeless body from the rubble and carried him to his mother. But Husam’s body was buried beneath tonnes of heavy concrete.
Safi said Abeer screamed and collapsed when her son was brought to her, wrapped in a shroud, but she has been unable to process her pain because she does not know the fate of her husband, who still has not been found after days of digging.
Safi described her nephew as a child genius with an interest in Lego and computers inspired by his father’s work as an electrical engineer. He had won chess and engineering competitions at school and had shared with his mother his worries about losing his trophies if their home they left in Gaza City was bombed.
“I don’t want him to be a number, Waseem’s eyes were full of dreams,” she says.
Alongside the almost 15,000 people, including more than 6,000 children, killed in Gaza since 7 October, the Palestinian health ministry has reported another 6,000 Palestinians believed trapped under the rubble.
In the UK, Metropolitan police officers are to hand out leaflets to demonstrators to provide “absolute clarity” on what will be deemed an offence, as more than 100,000 people are expected to join a pro-Palestine march on Saturday.
More than 1,500 officers will be on duty in London as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) marches from Park Lane to Whitehall in protest over the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Met police said 500 officers from outside London would be on duty.
Officers will be distributing leaflets warning demonstrators against the use of racist abuse and promoting terrorism. The leaflet states that “while the majority of people are complying with these rules, a minority have crossed the line”.
It says that to “avoid ending up in our cells”, demonstrators should not use words that “are racist or incite hatred against any faith”, that “support Hamas or any other banned organisation” or “that celebrate or promote acts of terrorism – such as the killing or kidnap of innocent people”.
Updated
Here are some pictures of Yaffa Adar, 85, as she was reunited with her family after being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
She had been kidnapped from Nir Oz and taken into the Gaza Strip in a golf cart on 7 October.
Updated
Iran facilitated Friday’s release of 10 Thai hostages from Gaza, providing a list of names to Hamas after a request to do so by Thailand’s foreign ministry and parliamentary speaker, Iran’s embassy in Thailand said on social media on Saturday.
“This request was accepted by Hamas and 10 Thai hostages were released after the ceasefire,” it said.
Updated
Egypt gets list from Hamas of 14 hostages to be released today, say security sources
Egypt has received a list from the Palestinian militant group Hamas of 14 hostages to be released on Saturday, security sources said.
Earlier on Saturday, Israel also said it had received a list of hostages to be freed from Gaza on Saturday by Hamas, Reuters reported.
Updated
14 Israeli hostages to be released in exchange for 42 Palestinian prisoners
Israel’s Prison Service said on Saturday it was preparing 42 prisoners for release, suggesting Hamas would release 14 Israeli hostages, AP reported.
There has been no official Israeli announcement on the number of hostages to be freed on Saturday, though Hamas handed a list of names to the authorities late Friday.
It was not immediately clear how many non-Israeli captives may also be released.
Updated
More than three dozen Palestinian prisoners returned home to a heroes’ welcome in the occupied West Bank on Friday following their release from Israeli prisons as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the Associated Press reports.
The freed prisoners, some accused of minor offences and others convicted in attacks, at a checkpoint outside Jerusalem were greeted by a massive crowd of chanting, clapping, hand-waving and shouting Palestinians.
Fifteen dazed teenagers and young men, all in stained grey prison sweatsuits and looking gaunt, were carried through the streets on the shoulders of their teary-eyed fathers as fireworks exploded overhead and Palestinian pop music blared.
Some of those released were draped in Palestinian flags, others in the green flags of Hamas. They flashed victory signs as they crowd-surfed.
“I have no words, I have no words,” said newly released Jamal Brahma, 17, searching for something to say to the jostling media and thousands of chanting Palestinians, many in national dress. “Thank God.”
His father, Khalil, cried as he brought his son down from his shoulders and looked him in the eye for the first time in seven months. Israeli forces had arrested Jamal at his home in the Palestinian city of Jericho last spring and detained him without charge or trial.
“I just want to be his father again,” he said.
The release of the Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails came just hours after two dozen hostages, including 13 Israelis, were released from captivity in Gaza in the initial exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners during the four-day ceasefire that started on Friday.
Under the deal, Hamas is to release at least 50 hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners, over the four days. Israel said the truce could be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.
Updated
The second day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has allowed critical humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and given civilians their first respite after seven weeks of war.
The United Nations said the pause enabled it to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the resumption of humanitarian aid convoys on 21 October, Associated Press reports.
It was also able to deliver 129,000 litres (34,078 gallons) of fuel – just over 10% of the daily pre-war volume – as well as cooking gas, for the first time since the war began.
In the southern city of Khan Younis on Saturday, a long line of people with gas cans and other containers waited outside a filling station hoping to get some of the newly delivered fuel.
For the first time in over a month, aid reached northern Gaza, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive. A UN convoy delivered flour to two facilities sheltering people displaced by fighting.
The UN said it and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society were also able to evacuate 40 patients and family members from a hospital in Gaza City, where much of the fighting has taken place, to a hospital in Khan Younis.
Updated
Rungarun Wichangern was lying on her bed, staring at her phone and hoping desperately for news, when she spotted the photo. An image had been shared on Facebook showing 10 Thai workers, who had been held hostage in Gaza for seven weeks, finally being driven to safety.
She felt sure her younger brother, 33-year-old Vetoon Phoome, who had been working on a farm close to Gaza and was abducted on 7 October, was among those freed.
“In the picture I could only see the side of his face, but I could recognise his expression, his eyes,” she said. “When I zoomed in, I thought: I think this is my brother.”
My hand was shivering. I had hope again.
Then she saw a video clip – it was filmed too far away to see the faces properly but she saw the way he walked. “I recognised him right away,” she said.
Vetoon’s sister tells of her happiness at his release in this exclusive report by Rebecca Ratcliffe and Navaon Siradapuvadol:
Updated
Hamas set to release new wave of hostages, officials say
Hamas fighters are set to release a new wave of hostages on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, officials said, offering hope to anguished families after seven weeks of war.
Agence France-Presse reports that key mediator Qatar was expected to announce the numbers of prisoners and hostages to be freed later on Saturday – the second swap since a four-day ceasefire came into effect on Friday and largely silenced the guns on both sides.
Israeli authorities said they had received a list of the hostages to be freed but did not provide numbers or the precise timing.
On Friday, the first day of the truce, Hamas released 24 hostages, according to Qatar and an official Israeli list. They comprised 13 Israelis – all of whom were women and children, including some dual citizens – 10 Thais and one Filipino.
A two-minute video released by Hamas showed masked militants with rifles, wearing military fatigues and the green headband of its armed wing, as they handed the hostages over to Red Cross officials
Israel in turn freed 39 women and children from its prisons.
US president Joe Biden told reporters in Massachusetts:
It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well.
“I think the chances are real” for extending the truce, he said.
Updated
Opening summary
Welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. I’m Adam Fulton and here’s a snapshot of the top developments.
Hamas is set to release a new wave of hostages on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, according to the AFP news agency, which is citing unnamed officials, providing hope to anguished families after seven weeks of war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group.
Key mediator Qatar was expected to announce the numbers of prisoners and hostages to be freed on Saturday in the second swap since a four-day ceasefire came into effect on Friday and brought a pause in the fighting.
Israeli authorities said they had received a list of the hostages to be freed but did not provide numbers or the exact timing.
More on that story soon. In other key developments:
The first group of hostages were released by Hamas on Friday and comprised 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and a Philippine national. The 13 Israelis, who included very young children and older women, had reached their home country by early evening. The Thai ministry said it “will do all possible to expedite” the return of their nationals to Thailand.
Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel on Friday evening. They consisted of 24 women, including some convicted of attempted murder for attacks on Israeli forces, and 15 teenagers jailed for offences such as throwing stones. Celebrations have been taking place in the occupied West Bank after their release.
Under the agreement between Israel and Hamas that brought about the hostage release and temporary ceasefire, Hamas is due to free at least 50 of the about 240 mostly Israeli hostages it has held since launching attacks into southern Israel on 7 October in which 1,200 people were killed. In return, Israel will release at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow up to 300 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The families of the 10 Thai hostages released on Friday had been notified, Thailand’s ministry of foreign affairs said, and the group was now with officials from the Thai embassy. The ministry also said there were now an estimated 20 Thai nationals who were still being held in Gaza.
US president Joe Biden said the chances were “real” that the temporary Israel-Hamas ceasefire could be extended. He said Friday’s hostage release was the “start of a process” and that he “will not stop” until all remaining hostages in Gaza were brought home. The deal reached by Israel and Hamas involved “extensive US diplomacy”, Biden said, adding: “It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well.” He also said he expected American citizens to be among the hostages who would be released.
Most of the Israeli hostages released by Hamas were said to be in good health after returning to Israel, the hospital receiving them announced. Schneider Children’s hospital, where four women and four child hostages were released, said doctors had conducted a preliminary examination and said they were all in in good physical condition.
Some 137 trucks of goods were offloaded by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reception point in the Gaza Strip on Friday. The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said it was “the biggest humanitarian convoy received” in Gaza since 7 October. In addition, 129,000 litres of fuel and four trucks of gas also crossed into Gaza, it said.
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos said on X that he was “overjoyed” to confirm that a Filipino, Gelienor “Jimmy” Pacheco, was among the first group of hostages released on Friday. Pacheco was working as a carer when he was captured by Hamas during the 7 October attacks.
The World Health Organisation has voiced concern about the fate of the head of Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, whom Israeli forces detained over the facility’s alleged use by Hamas.
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are expected to gather in London for the latest demonstration calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The Metropolitan police will be on high alert and about 1,500 officers will be deployed for the protests on Saturday.
The Israeli offensive on Gaza has killed more than 14,000 people, thousands of them children, according to Palestinian officials.
Updated
