As planned, Hamas released the first thirteen Israeli hostages this Friday afternoon, from the group of 50 women and children agreed upon in Tuesday’s agreement with Israel. What was not announced is that the Islamist organization also released ten Thai workers and one Filipino, who were also kidnapped in the October 7 terrorist attack on Israeli towns near the border with Gaza.
The hostages were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross in the city of Khan Younis, in the south of the strip, and taken to the Rafah crossing, on the border with Egypt. There, those released underwent a first medical examination and crossed the border line to be taken through Egyptian territory to the Kerem Shalom pass, on the border between Gaza, Egypt and Israel, where they entered Israeli territory and remained in the custody of the army special forces.
Those released underwent a medical examination in Kerem Shalom, already under Israeli supervision, and were later transferred by helicopter to different hospitals to reunite with their families.
The Israeli government kept the list of those released confidential, but the Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons released their names as soon as they set foot on Israeli territory. Among them there are only four children, of the 40 that are estimated to have been kidnapped. They are Margalit Mozes, 77 years old; Adina Moshe, 72; Danielle Aloni, 45, with her little daughter Emilia, 5 years old; Ruth Munder (78), along with her daughter Karen (54) and her grandson Ohad, 9 years old; Doron Katz-Asher (34) was released along with her two very young children: Raz, 4 years old, and Aviv, only 2 and a half years old; Chana Peri, 79 years old; Yaffa Adar (85); and Chana Katzir (76).
With the releases of some family groups, Hamas also fulfilled its promise not to release children without their mothers, and vice versa. Some of the hostages could be seen thanks to the images of the Egyptian television channel Al Qahera transmitted from the Rafah crossing, where the hostages were seen getting out of ambulances.
All the released Israeli hostages are women and minors and can now be subtracted from the 240 people who were kidnapped on October 7, of which 210 were held by Hamas and about 30 by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. According to the agreement, the four-day truce that began early this Friday should allow 12 or 13 more Israeli hostages to leave their captivity in the following three days, until completing the agreed 50.
At the same time, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners – women and adolescents without blood crimes – who were imprisoned in Ofer prison, north of Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank. These 39 are the first of the 150 prisoners that the Israeli justice system has released by order of Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu’s government, and who will also be released in the next three days.
The agreement between Israel and Hamas for four days of ceasefire but could be extended to ten days if both parties decide to continue exchanging hostages for prisoners in the same proportion. In this sense, Qatar, where the Hamas leaders reside and which acts as a mediator between the parties with the collaboration of the US, has reiterated that it is trying not only for the liberations to continue, but also for a definitive ceasefire to be established. .