Hamas releases 13 Israeli, four Thai captives after hours-long delay

Hamas has handed over 13 Israeli captives and four Thai nationals to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after a delay of seven hours as the group claimed that Israel had violated the terms of a truce.

The impasse was resolved following mediation by Qatar and Egypt on Saturday, the second day of the pause in hostilities in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Israel is now expected to release 39 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.

Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a post on X that 13 Israelis and four foreign nationals had been handed over to the ICRC. They were on their way to the Rafah border crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt before travelling to Israel.

The 17 captives had arrived in Israel, the Israeli Army posted on X.

“After undergoing an initial medical assessment, they will continue to be accompanied by IDF [Israeli Army] soldiers as they make their way to Israeli hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families,” it said.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said that the 17 released were “taken to an airbase in southern Israel for an initial check where they will then be flown to several different hospitals throughout the Tel Aviv area for additional medical and psychological checks”.

The Israeli captives included six adult women and seven children and teenagers, according to a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office. The hostages were released after spending 50 days in captivity, it said.

Delay in handover

Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan had said earlier that the aid deliveries permitted by Israel had fallen short of what had been promised and were not reaching northern Gaza, which was the target of Israel’s offensive.

Only 65 of 340 aid trucks that had entered Gaza since Friday had reached northern Gaza, which was “less than half of what Israel agreed on”, Hamdan said from Beirut.

Israel has said 50 trucks with food, water, shelter equipment and medical supplies had deployed to northern Gaza under United Nations supervision, the first significant aid delivery there since the start of the war seven weeks ago.

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, earlier said Israel had failed to respect the terms of the Palestinian prisoner release.

Qadura Fares, the Palestinian commissioner for prisoners, said Israel had not released detainees by seniority, as was expected.

The row over the second swap of captives for prisoners quashed hopes after 13 Israeli women and children were freed by Hamas on Friday. Ten Thai nationals and one citizen from the Philippines were freed as part of a separate agreement, and 39 Palestinian women and teenagers were released from Israeli jails.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the government was committed to complying with the truce agreement with Hamas but that there were many parties and factors involved. “And every day brings with it its complexities,” he added.

Yet, at least two Palestinians were reported to have been killed by the Israeli military and 11 wounded as they attempted the trip to northern Gaza on Friday.

A large number of displaced people were trying to return home across Gaza as the four-day truce brokered by Qatar took effect on Friday. However, Israel has warned people that they will not be allowed to enter the north of the war-torn enclave.

Safaa Merie, who was among hundreds of people who gathered to receive the prisoners in Beitunia, told Al Jazeera she was waiting for a 14-year-old boy on behalf of his family members from Jenin, a city in the north of the occupied West Bank.

“Because of the military checkpoints by the Israelis, it’s very difficult to come here, almost impossible,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I don’t know him but we are all here to welcome all the prisoners.”

Manal Tamimi told Al Jazeera in el-Bireh, also in the occupied West Bank, that she was waiting for her teenage nephew Wisam to be released after seven months.

“Our brothers and sisters in Gaza – our hearts are bleeding for them,” she said.