Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire Leads to 13 Hostages Being Released
A pause in the fighting between Israel’s military and Hamas was holding through Friday morning as Israel received the first batch among 50 total hostages, according to news reports.
Israel received the initial group of 13 civilians, whom Hamas terrorists abducted during the bloody and unexpected Oct. 7 incursions into Israel, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Also released were 10 Thai citizens, according to the report.
“The Thais were a surprise last-minute addition and their freedom wasn’t part of the broader agreement,” the Journal reported.
Meanwhile, Israel moved the 39 Palestinian prisoners — 24 women and 15 teenage boys — to a single detention center in preparation for their release after receiving the Israeli citizens back.
“The war is not over yet,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said, according to the Journal. “The humanitarian pause is temporary.”
The cease-fire is the most significant diplomatic breakthrough since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, although it emerged only after negotiations fraught with disagreement, tension and 11th-hour delays over details including how many hostages Hamas actually has, The New York Times reported.
The remaining Israeli hostages agreed to as part of the cease-fire deal are expected to be freed over the next four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, according to The Washington Post.
Aid trucks carrying fuel and supplies rolled into Gaza on Friday as well, the Post reported.
After the cease-fire, Hamas will still be in possession of scores of hostages. Israel has said that it will extend the cease-fire one day for every 10 additional hostages released, according to the Post.
The temporary pause in fighting will allow both sides to regroup. The Israel Defense Forces warned Gaza residents “the war is not over yet” ahead of the cease-fire taking effect Friday and dropped leaflets in the Khan Younis area warning Gazans not to return north, where the heaviest fighting has taken place, according to the Post.
The IDF stationed troops along cease-fire lines starting at 7 a.m. local time Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
What a miracle! These are the 13 Israeli hostages that were released from captivity in Gaza today. More hostages are set to be released over the next 3 days.
Welcome home 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/dhuWp2vtHL
— India Naftali (@indianaftali) November 24, 2023
Israel promised to respond to any Hamas threats even if that required breaking the cease-fire.
“Anyone who poses a threat to our forces will be hit. The security of our forces is a top priority, that’s how we behaved and that’s how we will continue to behave,” a senior officer in the IDF Southern Command said, according to the Times of Israel.
“We will use most of the time for the sake of readiness and planning the tasks expected of us immediately after the end of the truce. We are preparing to continue attacking with all our strength immediately after the end of the truce,” he said.
Cease-fires in previous conflicts involving Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip have sometimes collapsed, with each side accusing the other of continued rocket attacks, according to the Journal.
The IDF said a drone attack warning in Eilat turned out to be a false alarm, the Times of Israel reported.
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