Seventeen more hostages released from Gaza as Hamas aid row resolved by Qatar and Egypt

Seventeen hostages have been released by Hamas from Gaza following a delay that required a last-minute intervention from Qatar and Egypt.

Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand, who turned nine while in captivity, was among those freed on Saturday night after last-minute delays. Earlier this week, Emily’s father Thomas, wrote for The Independent that he could only hope that his daughter would be among those freed so that her family could give her the birthday celebration she has been denied.

He said Emily, whose mother died of breast cancer when she was a baby, was attending a sleepover when she was kidnapped with her friend’s family. He wrote about his fears that even after she is freed “we’ll be dealing with the damage that has been done for the rest of our lives”, but on Saturday night they were finally reunited.

Thirteen Israelis – six women and seven children – were released as part of a four-day truce and hostage release deal. Four Thai nationals were also released at the same time, but were not part of the core Israel-Hamas deal in which 39 Palestinians will also be released from prisons in Israel.

Meanwhile early on Sunday a bus carrying nearly three dozen Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank. Hundreds of people greeted the International Committee of the Red Cross vehicle as it arrived in Al Bireh. Crowds chanted “God is Great” and several young men stood on the roof of the vehicle. Many in the crowd held Hamas flags and chanted pro-Hamas slogans. The release was the second batch of prisoners to be freed as part of a four-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners, including six women and 33 children, from two prisons were set free.

After her release, Emily’s family released a statement saying they were “overjoyed” to be able to embrace her again and thanked the world for “unwavering support” in trying to secure her return. “We can’t find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days.”

Emily had been having a sleep over with her friend Hila Rotem who was also freed – although Raya, Hila’s mother, remains in Gaza. “At the same time, we remember Raya Rotem and all the hostages who have yet to return. We will persist in doing everything in our power to bring them back home,” the statement added.

The families of the other released hostages spoke of the need to keep fighting for those who had been left behind.

Inbal Tzach, the cousin of Adi Shoham, 38, who was freed together with her mother Shoshan, 67, and her two children Nave, 8, and Yahel, 3, who was the youngest in Saturday’s group. Inbal said she felt “the saddest joy and the happiest sadness”. Like Emily, the family had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri.

“We still have a long way to go,” she said after she was freed. “We will continue the struggle until everyone comes home. Keep fighting with us,” she said.

Zohar Avigdori is the uncle of Noam Avigdori, 12, and brother-in-law of Sharon Avigdori, 52, both released on Saturday. He said his “legs were shaking” as he and the rest of the family waited.

“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,” he added.

Among those released on Saturday was Maya Regev, 21, – she was shot when she was abducted from Re’im festival and so was taken to hospital in Israel for treatment.

The other Israelis released were: the Or family: Noam, 16, and Alma, 13; the Weiss family: Shiri, 53, and Noga, 18; Hila Rotem Shoshani, 12. The names of the four Thai hostages were still to be released.

The release had been put back by several hours as Hamas’ armed wing said it wanted a delay until Israel “commits to allowing aid trucks to enter northern Gaza”.

It showed the fragile nature of the hostage deal and a connected temporary four-day ceasefire which took weeks of fraught negotiations. Qatari officials, who flew to Israel for a very rare meeting, furiously shuttled between all sides in the eleventh hour before announcing the second daily release of hostages would go ahead shortly before those freed were transferred to Rafah.

In a statement, Hamas said it “upholds their appreciation towards Egypt and Qatar for ensuring the continuation of their temporary truce with Israel”. Reports had earlier circulated on Hamas-affiliated social media channels accusing Israel of “tampering“ with the terms of the truce, including curtailing free movement of aid north and the use of aircraft, which is barred by the details of the agreement. Israeli sources said they did not violate the agreement.

A Hamas spokesperson had said a total of 340 aid trucks entered Gaza but only 65 reached north Gaza which was “less than half of what Israel agreed on”.

The Palestine Red Crescent had posted just an hour before the Hamas statement that it was able to deliver aid to Gaza City and the north Gaza governorate in one of the largest convoys since the start of the war. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees added that 196 trucks of aid entered on Friday, and Israel said four fuel trucks and four tanks of gas entered Saturday.

Two of the Palestinian women freed , Maysoun Jabali and Israa Jaabis, were imprisoned in 2015 after being convicted of carrying out attacks on Israelis – which they deny.

Ms Jaabis suffered severe burns during the incident. Also on the list, according to Palestinian rights group Addameer, are five minors who are in administrative detention – meaning they are held without charge or trial, something rights group say is a violation of international law. Israel denies accusations of arbitrary detention.

The hostage release and temporary ceasefire deal was agreed after weeks of tense negotiations, a breakthrough which saw Israeli families finally reunited and granted Palestinians civilians a rare moment of respite under ferocious Israeli bombing.

Israel has unleashed its heaviest bombardment yet of Gaza in retaliation for 7 October attack by Hamas on southern Israel, where militants killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostage.

The health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza says Israel’s bombing of the besieged strip has killed more than 14,000 people, including thousands of children. It has also levelled swathes of the besieged strip and an unknown number of people remain trapped under the rubble.

On Friday the agreement appeared to continue comparatively smoothly with 13 Israelis released via Egypt, and 39 Palestinians detainees sent home from Israeli jails – alongside at least 200 trucks of aid entering the besieged strip. That initial release had also included an additional 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino.

Among the Israelis freed on Friday after almost 50 days in captivity in Gaza was nine-year-old Ohad Munder, who ran down a hospital corridor in Israel into his father's open arms, footage released by Schneider children’s medical centre showed.

He and three other children released at the same time were in relatively good condition, Gilat Livni, the centre's director of paediatrics told reporters.

“I dreamt we came home,” another hostage, four-year-old Raz Asher said sitting in her father’s arms on a hospital bed after she and her mother and younger sister were freed. “Now the dream came true,” her father, Yoni, replied.

Under the Israeli-Hamas agreement, a total of 50 hostages are to be exchanged for 150 Palestinians, all women and teenagers imprisoned in Israel.

Before the delay from Hamas in the latest hostage release, a Qatari delegation made an extremely rare trip to Israel on Saturday to ensure the deal continues to “move smoothy” and to discuss further details of the ongoing deal, one source told The Independent. Qatar and Israel formally do not have diplomatic relations highlighting the importance – and perhaps the stakes – of the visit. A Qatari jet was photographed landing in Tel Aviv.

Palestinian civilians in Gaza told of “finally being able to breathe” as the bombing stopped. Families walked for miles to try to get news of their relatives they were separated from in the fighting. Others sought to find and bury their dead as thousands of bodies are trapped under the rubble. Many shared videos of severe levels of destruction. But there were also videos shared of families going to the beach. “Men are going to hair salon, women are going out to get supplies, I can’t describe the calmness”, said Sara, 21.

There were even discussions of an extension to the ceasefire just a few hours before the temporary setback.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement that Cairo was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement which would mean “the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails”.

Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.

The families of the hostages said on Saturday that they were counting on deal being extended to allow the release of different categories of captives including men. So far only children, their mothers and the most vulnerable elderly women have been included on the lists.

“Getting everybody back alive and soon is the aim, alive and soon are connected to each other” said Noam Peri: daughter of Haim Peri, 79, who was kidnapped from his home in kibbutz Nir Oz and as a man is not eligible for release right now. She said he had recently survived a heart attack and depended on medication to survive.

Ms Peris said she had “proof of life” for her father from Friday’s release of hostages who had been held with him, in “hard conditions underground”.

“We don’t even know if he can stand where he is kept, it has been 50 days.”