A source close to Hamas said that its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, had handed over a group of Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The release is the sixth under an extended humanitarian truce that has paused fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the handover took place in a hospital in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. The hostages are now said to be on their way to the Rafah border crossing to Egypt.
The source did not specify the number or the identity of the hostages, but said they were part of the 50 hostages that Hamas agreed to release in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The deal, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, also stipulates a four-day ceasefire that began on Sunday and could be extended depending on the progress of the negotiations.
The source said that Hamas was committed to the deal and hoped that Israel would fulfill its part of the bargain. The source added that Hamas was ready to resume the fight if Israel violated the truce or reneged on the prisoner swap.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had received 13 hostages from the Red Cross on Wednesday, bringing the total number of hostages released by Hamas to 40. The military said that one of the hostages was taken by helicopter to a hospital, and the other 12 were taken in a convoy to the Hatzerim airbase.
The military also said that four other hostages, one Israeli and three Thais, were taken by the Red Cross to Egypt’s Rafah crossing. The military said the four were now in Israel, after entering through the Kerem Shalom crossing, and would be taken by helicopter to hospitals to reunite with their relatives.
The hostages released on Wednesday included Abigail Mor Idan, 3, an American-Israeli citizen; Hagar Brodutch and her children Ofri, 10, Yuval 8, and Uriyah, 4; sisters Dafna and Ela Elyakim, 15 and 8; Chen Almog-Goldstein, 48, and her children Agam, 17, Gal, 11, and Tal, 9; Aviva Siegel, 62, who immigrated to Israel from South Africa; Alma Avraham, 84; and Roni Krivoi, 25.
