Hamas frees hostages including U.S. girl, 4, whose parents were killed in Oct. 7 attack

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip —  The fragile, temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed 17 more hostages, including 14 Israelis and the first American, in a third set of releases under a four-day truce that the U.S. said it hoped would be extended.

In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Most hostages were handed over directly to Israel, waving to a cheering crowd draped in flags as they arrived at an air force base. Others left through Egypt. Israel’s army said one was airlifted to a hospital. President Biden said the elderly woman was “very sick and was in need of immediate medical help.”

The hostages ranged in age from 4 to 84 and included Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old dual Israeli American citizen whose parents were killed in the Hamas attack that started the war on Oct. 7. “What she endured was unthinkable,” Biden said of the youngest hostage freed under the truce. He did not know her condition. He did not have updates on other American hostages and said his goal was to extend the cease-fire deal as long as possible.

In all, nine children ages 17 and younger were on the list, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Three more Thais were also released. Separately, Hamas said it had released one of the Russian hostages it was holding, “in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin” and as a show of appreciation for Moscow’s position on the war. Israel’s Army Radio had reported that it was an Israeli-Russian dual national. The dual citizen was the first male hostage to be freed.

The Palestinian prisoners released were children and young men, ages 15 to 19, largely accused of public disorder, property damage and in some cases causing or threatening physical harm to Israeli officers by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. Many were scooped up from protests and confrontations with troops. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation and have celebrated their release.

A fourth exchange is expected Monday — the last day of the cease-fire during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. Most are women and minors.

“We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing,” said two of Abigail’s relatives, a great-aunt and cousin, in a statement thanking mediators.

International mediators led by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar are trying to extend the cease-fire that began Friday.

Hamas on Sunday for the first time said it would seek to extend the deal by looking to release a larger number of hostages. Netanyahu issued a statement saying he had spoken to Biden and reiterated his offer to extend the cease-fire by an additional day for every 10 hostages Hamas releases. But he said Israel would resume its offensive “with all of our might” once the truce expires.

Ahead of the latest release, a body armor-clad Netanyahu visited the Gaza Strip, where he spoke with troops. “At the end of the day we will return every one,” he said of the hostages, adding that “we are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.” It was unclear where he went in Gaza.

Families from the southern Israeli town of Kfar Aza embraced, cried and applauded at the news that hostages from their town had arrived in Israel. More than 70 members of the kibbutz of about 700 people were killed in the Oct. 7 rampage and 18 were kidnapped.

Hamas’ military wing released a video showing militants handing over the hostages to Red Cross workers and paramedics, with some of the balaclava-wearing fighters and hostages waving goodbye to each other.

In a separate development, Hamas announced that one of its top commanders had been killed, without saying when or how. Israel’s military confirmed it.

Hamas and other militant groups killed at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 240 more in an Oct. 7 rampage across southern Israel, igniting the war.

Pressure from hostages’ families has sharpened the dilemma facing Israel’s leaders, who seek to eliminate Hamas as a military and governing power while returning all the captives. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s air and ground response, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

International mediators led by the U.S. and Qatar are trying to extend the lull in fighting.

World & Nation

News Analysis: A temporary cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war does little to solve deep dilemmas on all sides

Fighting pauses in Gaza for a hostage-prisoner exchange. But Israel vows that the war will continue, and has shown no sign of relenting in its determination to destroy Hamas.

Nov. 24, 2023

The Israeli hostages freed Saturday included seven children and six women, ranging in age from 3 to 67. Most were from Kibbutz Beeri, a community that Hamas militants ravaged during their Oct. 7 attack.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye. Hospitals said their physical condition has been good, aside from one who was shot during the attack and required surgery. Little is publicly known about the conditions of their captivity.

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight. One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

Eyal Nouri, the nephew of Adina Moshe, 72, who was freed Friday, said his aunt “had to adjust to the sunlight” because she had been in complete darkness for weeks.

The released Palestinians included at least two women who had been given long sentences after being convicted by Israeli courts of violent attacks.

The four-day cease-fire, which began Friday, was brokered by Qatar and Egypt and the United States.

Israel has said the truce can be extended by an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed, but has vowed to quickly resume its offensive once it ends. U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan said the U.S. is working “with all sides on the possibility that this deal gets extended to additional hostages beyond the initial 50.”

Hamas announced the death of Ahmed Ghandour, who was a member of its top military council and in charge of northern Gaza. He is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting. Israel’s military confirmed the death.

Ghandour had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life and was involved in a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.

Hamas said that he was killed along with three other senior militants, including Ayman Siam, who Israel says was in charge of the militant group’s rocket-firing unit. The Israeli military mentioned both men in a Nov. 16 statement, saying it had targeted an underground complex where Hamas leaders were hiding.

The Israeli military claims to have killed thousands of militants, including several mid-ranking commanders it has identified by name.

The pause in fighting has given some respite to Gaza’s 2.3 million people, still reeling from relentless Israeli bombardment that has driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and leveled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel has also gone silent.

War-weary Palestinians in northern Gaza, where the offensive has focused, returned to the streets. Entire city blocks in and around Gaza City have been gutted by airstrikes that hollowed out buildings and left behind rubble.

In southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people from the north have sought refuge, residents lined up outside gas stations, hoping to stock up on fuel. Palestinians who have tried to return to the north to see if their homes are intact have been turned back by Israeli troops.

“Many are desperate to return to their homes, but they open fire on anyone approaching from the south,” said Rami Hazarein, who fled Gaza City last month.

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinians to not return to the north and to stay about half a mile away from the border fence. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said that Israeli forces opened fire Sunday on two farmers in central Gaza, killing one and wounding the other. It didn’t provide further details. An Israeli military spokesperson said they weren’t aware of the incident.

The United Nations says the truce has made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water, and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war, but it calls the amount of 160 to 200 trucks a day “hardly enough.” It was able to deliver fuel for the first time since the war began, and to reach areas in the north for the first time in a month.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said 50 Egyptian aid trucks crossed through checkpoints to reach Gaza City and northern areas Sunday.

The war in Gaza has been accompanied by a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian health authorities said Sunday that five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin that began the day before. The war toll in the West Bank is now 239.

The Israeli army has conducted frequent military raids and arrested hundreds of Palestinians since the start of the war, mostly people it suspects of being Hamas members.