A bus carrying nearly three dozen Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank early Sunday, following Hamas’ release of 13 Israelis and four foreigners in the second round of swaps under a cease-fire deal.
Quick Read
- Arrival of Palestinian Prisoners: A bus carrying nearly three dozen Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank early Sunday, marking the second round of swaps under a cease-fire deal.
- Celebrations in the West Bank: The released prisoners received a warm welcome, with crowds greeting them with cheers and chants in Al Bireh.
- Hostages Released by Hamas: The Israeli military confirmed that 13 Israelis and four foreigners released by Hamas, including four Thais, had been safely transferred to Israel to reunite with their families.
- Condition of Released Hostages: A video showed the hostages in good physical condition as they were led by militants to Red Cross vehicles to leave Gaza.
- Hero’s Welcome for Released Palestinians: Released Palestinian prisoners such as Nurhan Awad and Shurouq Duwiyat received joyous welcomes in their communities.
- Israeli Military Action: Israeli troops evicted journalists from certain areas in Jerusalem and conducted raids in the West Bank city of Jenin, resulting in Palestinian casualties.
- Status of Israeli Hostages: The Israeli hostages released included seven children and six women, with most hailing from Kibbutz Be’eri.
- Impact of the Cease-Fire on Residents: Residents of Kibbutz Be’eri expressed mixed emotions, as some released hostages had lost family members in the Oct. 7 attack, or still had loved ones in captivity.
- Delivery of Humanitarian Aid: The cease-fire allowed the United Nations to deliver significant humanitarian aid to Gaza, and 61 trucks reached northern Gaza, an area heavily affected by the conflict.
- Expectation and Uncertainty: While there was optimism about the exchanges and the cease-fire, uncertainty remained regarding some details of the exchange and the fulfillment of the agreement’s terms.
- Extension of the Cease-Fire: Israel stated that the truce could be extended for each additional 10 hostages released. U.S. President Joe Biden expressed hope for the truce’s extension.
- Continued Conflict: Despite the cease-fire, Israeli leaders indicated that military operations would resume in Gaza after the truce, aiming to subdue Hamas, which has controlled Gaza for the past 16 years.
The Associated Press has the story:
Red Cross bus carrying freed Palestinian prisoners arrives in W. Bank town
Newslooks- AL BIREH, West Bank (AP)
A bus carrying nearly three dozen Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank early Sunday, following Hamas’ release of 13 Israelis and four foreigners in the second round of swaps under a cease-fire deal.
Hundreds of people greeted the International Committee of the Red Cross bus as it arrived in Al Bireh. 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 Israeli military said the hostages released by Hamas, including four Thais, had been transferred to Israel and were to be reunited with their families.
Hamas released a video showing the hostages appearing shaken but mostly in good physical condition as masked militants led them to Red Cross vehicles headed out of Gaza. Some of the hostages waved goodbye to the militants as they headed out of the besieged enclave.
Nurhan Awad received a hero’s welcome by hundreds of people at the Qalandia refugee camp near Jerusalem when she arrived shortly after her release. The woman was 17 in 2016 when she was sentenced to 13 1/2 years in jail for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier with a pair of scissors.
Released Palestinian woman Shurouq Duwiyat arrived at her home in Jerusalem where joyous family members hugged and kissed her.
“We send a message to our people in Gaza that we stand by your side and support you,” Duwiyat told reporters inside her home.
Also in Jerusalem, Israeli troops evicted journalists who gathered outside the home of Israa Jaabis, who had been imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted of carrying out separate attacks on Israelis.
Hundreds of Palestinians waited in the West Bank town of Beitunia for the arrival of additional prisoners.
The Israeli hostages released Saturday by Hamas included seven children and six women, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced. Most of the released hostages were from Kibbutz Be’eri, a community Hamas militants ravaged during their Oct. 7 cross-border attack, a spokesperson for the kibbutz said. 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. A kibbutz spokesperson said all the released hostages either had a family member killed in the Oct. 7 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.
Residents of the kibbutz have been staying together at a Dead Sea hotel since the Oct. 7 attack. A large crowd gathered in a function room at the hotel late Saturday, cheering in excitement as they saw the first images of their loved ones being released.
One classmate of 18-year-old Noga Weiss said there was great excitement about her release.
“I was very nervous when I heard about the delay. I thought something would happen,” the classmate, identified as Zohar, told Channel 13 TV. “It was a great relief when I saw her.”
The last-minute delay had created a tense standoff on the second day of what’s meant to be a four-day cease-fire. By nightfall, as the hostages should have emerged from Gaza, Hamas alleged that the aid deliveries permitted by Israel fell short of what was promised and that not enough of it was reaching northern Gaza — the focus of Israel’s ground offensive and main combat zone. Hamas also said not enough veteran prisoners were freed in the first swap on Friday.
“This is putting the deal in danger,” Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, said in Beirut. But Egypt, Qatar and Hamas itself later said obstacles had been overcome, and Hamas listed six women and 33 teenage boys it said were expected to be released by the Israelis.
While uncertainty around some details of the exchange remained, there was some optimism, too, amid earlier scenes of joyous families reuniting on both sides.
On the first day of the cease-fire, Hamas released 24 of the roughly 240 hostages taken during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, and Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison. Those freed in Gaza were 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and a Filipino.
Overall, Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners, during the four-day truce — all women and minors.
Israel has said the truce can be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed — something U.S. President Joe Biden said he hoped would occur.
Biden spoke Saturday with Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani of Qatar, the White House said, to discuss “hurdles” to the release of the hostages.
The start of the pause brought quiet for 2.3 million Palestinians reeling from relentless Israeli bombardment that has killed thousands, driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and leveled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel also went silent.
For Emad Abu Hajer, a resident of the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza City area, the pause meant he could again search through the remains of his home, which was flattened in an Israeli attack last week.
He found the bodies of a cousin and nephew, bringing the death toll in the attack to 19. His sister and two other relatives are still missing.
“We want to find them and bury them in dignity,” he said.
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 aid convoys on Oct. 21. It was also able to deliver 129,000 liters (34,078 gallons) of fuel — just over 10% of the daily pre-war volume — as well as cooking gas, a first since the war began.
In the southern city of Khan Younis, a long line of people with containers waited outside a filling station. Hossam Fayad lamented that the pause in fighting was only for four days.
“I wish it could be extended until people’s conditions improved,” he said.
For the first time in over a month, aid reached northern Gaza. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 61 trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies headed there on Saturday, the largest aid convoy to reach the area yet. The U.N. said it and the Palestinian Red Crescent were also able to evacuate 40 patients and family members from a hospital in Gaza City to a hospital in Khan Younis.
The war in Gaza has been accompanied by a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Late Saturday, Palestinian health authorities said four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, hours after another raid in the same area killed the local governor’s 25-year-old son.
A 16-year-old Palestinian boy was also killed by Israeli fire near the city of Ramallah. The Israeli army, which frequently conducts military raids aimed at local militant groups, did not immediately comment.
JOY AND EXPECTATION
In Tel Aviv, several thousand people packed a central square called “the square of the hostages,” awaiting news of the second release.
“Don’t forget the others because it’s getting harder, harder and harder. It’s heartbreaking,” said Neri Gershon, a Tel Aviv resident. Some families have accused Netanyahu’s government of not doing enough to bring hostages home.
In the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank, the family of 16-year-old Wael Mesheh was frantically getting the house ready for his homecoming as part of the second swap. “We are going to hug him so tight,” his mother, Hanadi Mesheh, said by phone.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group, Israel is holding 7,200 Palestinians, including about 2,000 arrested since the start of the war.A LONGER PEACE?
The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers.
“We will return immediately at the end of the cease-fire to attacking in Gaza, operating in Gaza,” Herzi Halevi, Israeli chief of staff, told soldiers.
Israeli leaders have said they won’t stop until Hamas, which has controlled Gaza for the past 16 years, is crushed. Israeli officials have argued that only military pressure can bring the hostages home. But the government is under pressure from hostages’ families to prioritize the release of the remaining captives.
The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza government. Women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead. The figure does not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north, where communications have broken down.
