Hamas released a second group of hostages on Sunday: 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals.
Following the truce between Israel and Hamas, the sides are exchanging hostages. The first exchange took place recently, and now the second.
Among the 13 Israelis released, six are women and seven are children and teenagers.
“The released hostages are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Four Thai nationals were also in the group of those released, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on social media Sunday:
Everybody is safe, on the whole in good mental health and are able to speak normally, he said on social media platform X.
The Israeli Prison Service, for its part, said it released 39 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. All of the prisoners are women or minors 18 years old or younger.
But earlier Saturday, the truce agreement nearly collapsed after Hamas said it was delaying the release of the hostages, accusing Israel of not allowing humanitarian aid trucks into northern Gaza. Thus, of the 340 aid trucks that have arrived in Gaza since Friday, only 65 have reached northern Gaza, according to Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan.
As the situation worsened, Qatar and Egypt stepped in to prevent the truce from collapsing. In turn, Joe Biden also called Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The truce agreement between Hamas and Israel implies the exchange of 50 Israeli hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners within four days.
