JERUSALEM: Hamas said its armed wing handed over 13 Israeli hostages and four foreign nationals to the International Red Cross in Gaza last night.
The group is traveling to Egypt’s shared border with the enclave, a Qatari source told Reuters.
Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari echoed this in an earlier social media post, although his numbers were different, saying that the five Israeli women and eight children will leave Gaza with seven foreigners.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Saturday afternoon with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who told him the exchange was back on and that the International Committee of the Red Cross was moving to collect the hostages.
Biden was briefed throughout Saturday on the latest of the hostage deal implementation, said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.
Hours earlier, the armed wing of Hamas delayed Saturday’s scheduled second round of hostage releases because, it said, Israel had not met all the truce conditions, including allowing all promised aid trucks into northern Gaza.
Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan said 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.”
Qadura Fares, the Palestinian commissioner for prisoners, also said Israel had failed to fulfill the terms of the Palestinian prisoner releases based on seniority.
Avi Dichter, a member of Israel’s security Cabinet, told Channel 13 News that Israel was “abiding by the deal” with Hamas that Qatar had mediated.
The row over the truce had dashed hopes of a smooth second day of hostage and prisoner releases after 13 Israeli women and children were freed by Hamas on Friday, along with 11 foreigners. Israel released 39 Palestinian women and teenagers from its jails.
Eight of the freed Israeli hostages released Friday were treated at Israel’s Schneider Children’s Medical Center. The four children and four women all appeared to be in good physical condition, the medical center said.
(Reuters/VOA)
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