Hamas on Friday released 24 hostages who had been held captive in Gaza for weeks, including 13 Israelis, 10 people from Thailand and one from the Philippines, according to Qatar, in the first stage in a swap for Palestinians prisoners in Israel under a four-day cease-fire deal.
The agreement opened the way for sorely needed aid to flow into Gaza for beleaguered residents. It was also a moment of hope for families in Israel and elsewhere worried about loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.
With the truce’s start Friday morning, Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians saw quiet for the first time after seven weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment, which has killed thousands, driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and flattened vast swaths of residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel went silent as well.
The freed Israeli hostages included eight women — six of them in their 70s and 80s — and three children. Their release was to be followed in the evening by the freeing of at least 39 Palestinian prisoners — 24 women, including some convicted of attempted murder for attacks on Israeli forces, and 15 teenagers jailed for offenses like throwing stones.
But joy at the deal has been tempered — among Israelis by the fact that not all hostages will be freed and among Palestinians by the briefness of the pause. The short truce will leave Gaza mired in humanitarian crisis and under the threat that fighting could soon resume.
Israel says the cease-fire could be extended if more hostages are released, but it has vowed to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends. That has clouded hopes that the deal could eventually help wind down the conflict, which has fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.
