Hostages, detainees freed under Israel-Hamas agreement include children, seniors
Multiple members from 3 families arrived in Egypt after release from Hamas captivity
Dozens of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees, including children and a toddler, were released from Gaza and Israel on Friday, becoming the first group of captives freed under an exchange agreement that came into effect hours earlier.
The captives that Hamas released from Gaza were transferred to Egypt on the first day of a temporary truce between the militant group and Israel. Accompanied by the Red Cross, some were able to walk slowly from a convoy of transport vehicles into medical centres to be examined.
The released hostages were with Israel Defence Forces (IDF) special forces and Israel Security Agency forces, the IDF said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"They will continue to be accompanied by IDF soldiers as they make their way to Israeli hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families," the post read.
The freed hostages included several elderly women and several members from the same families. The oldest is in her mid-80s, while the youngest is just two years old.
They have been identified by the Israeli government as:
- Chana Katzir, 76.
- Margalit Mozes, 77.
- Yaffa Adar, 85.
- Chana Peri, 78.
- Adina Moshe, 72.
- Danielle Aloni, 45, and her daughter Emilia Aloni, 5.
- Ruthi Munder, 78, her daughter Keren Munder, 54, and her grandson Ohad Munder, 9.
- Doron Katz-Asher, 34, and her daughters Raz Asher, 4, and Aviv Asher, 2.
Thirty-nine Palestinians — 24 women and 15 teenagers — were released from Israeli jails in return for 13 Israelis, Qatar said. The government of Israel released their names later Friday:
- Youssef Muhammad Mustafa Atta.
- Qusay Hani Ali Ahmed.
- Jibril Ghassan Ismail Jibril.
- Muhammad Ahmed Suleiman Abu Rajab.
- Ahmed Numan Ahmed Abu Naim.
- Baraa Bilal Mahmoud Rabai.
- Aban Iyad Muhammad Saeed Hammad.
- Moataz Hatem Musa Abu Aram.
- Iyad Abdel Qader Muhammad Khatib.
- Laith Khalil Othman.
- Muhammad Mahmoud Ayoub Dar Darwis.
- Jamal Khalil Jamal Barahma.
- Jamal Youssef Jamal Abu Hamdan.
- Muhammad Anis Salim Turabi.
- Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Rahman Suleiman Rizq.
- Rawan Nafez Muhammad Abu Matar.
- Marah Jawdat Musa Bakir.
- Malak Muhammad Yusuf Suleiman.
- Amani Khaled Noman Hasheem.
- Nihaya Khader Hussein Sawan.
- Fayrouz Fayez Mahmoud Al-Bo.
- Tahrir Adnan Muhammad Abu Sariya.
- Falasteen Farid Abdel Latif Najm.
- Walaa Khaled Fawzi Tangier.
- Maryam Khaled Abdel Majeed Arafat.
- Aseel Munir Ibrahim Al-Titi.
- Azhar Thaer Bakr Assaf.
- Raghad Nashaat Salah Al-Fanni.
- Fatima Numan Ali Badr.
- Rawdat Musa Abdel Qader Abu Ajamiya.
- Sarah Ayman Abdel Aziz Abdullah Al-Suwaisa.
- Fatima Ismail Abdel Rahman Shaheen.
- Samira Abdel Harbawi.
- Samah Bilal Abdel Rahman Sof.
- Fatima Bakr Musa Abu Shalal.
- Hanan Saleh Abdullah Al-Barghouti.
- Fatima Nasr Muhammad Amarneh.
- Zeina Raed Abdo.
- Nour Muhammad Hafez Al-Taher.
"The deep pain that family members separated from their loved ones feel is indescribable. We are relieved that some will be reunited after long agony," said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the Near and Middle East for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Qatar, which acted as mediator for the truce deal, said 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino hostage were also released from Gaza on Friday. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin posted his own message earlier in the day saying it was 12 Thai workers who were freed, two more than the figure given by Qatar. No reason for the discrepancy was given.
Altogether, 50 hostages in Gaza and 150 Palestinians detained in Israel are to be freed slowly over the four-day truce, though Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day.
The agreement stopped attacks from both sides of the conflict since war broke out 48 days ago.
Israel launched its attack on Gaza after Hamas fighters burst across the border fence into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing about 240 hostages.
About 14,000 Gazans have been killed since then, according to Palestinian health authorities — though the tally has been increasingly difficult to verify as Israeli bombardment continues.
Hundreds of thousands of the 2.3 million people in Gaza have fled their homes to escape the violence, with food, drinking water, fuel and other basic supplies running short.
With files from Reuters