• It is the 51st day of the war: According to Hamas, over 14,800 Palestinians have been killed, including 5,600 children. In Israel, 1,200 people died in the attack on October 7th.
• The release of the second group of hostages was delayed: In the evening, 13 Israelis and 7 foreigners were released in exchange for 39 Palestinians.
• The words and acronyms to understand the conflict: Here is the glossary.
• The history of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, explained here.
8:16 a.m. – The first stories of the released Israeli hostages: “They didn’t torture us, but they didn’t give us food”
They were not tortured or ill-treated by the Hamas militants who kidnapped them from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 last year and took them to the Gaza Strip, but as the days went by the available food became increasingly scarce. This emerges from the first reports from Israeli women published the day before yesterday, the first day of the entry into force of the agreement concluded between Hamas and Israel through the mediation of Egypt and Qatar. This is reported by the broadcaster N12. Merav Mor Raviv, cousin of freed hostage Keren Monder, 54, told N12: “There were days when there were no supplies, so they only ate flatbread.” They were not tortured, but there were days when they were hardly had something to eat, in the last few days they ate very little rice. The hostages cooked their own food for themselves and their children.
8:06 a.m. – “12 of the hostages do not require urgent care”
The director of the Safra Children’s Hospital at the Sheba Meidcal Center announced today that the condition of 12 out of 13 hostages released by Hamas yesterday, that is, those who stayed overnight at the health facility, does not require urgent treatment. Haaretz reports it. “The horrors of captivity are clear to them, but none require urgent and immediate medical intervention,” said Professor Itai Pesach. The thirteenth person released yesterday is 21-year-old Maya Regev, who was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival while her brother Itai was still held hostage. She was instead taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba for immediate medical treatment and is currently in a stable condition, we read in the Times of Israel.
7:50 a.m. – “Hamas violated the agreement, a little girl was released without her mother”
A little girl was released without her mother. In doing so, Hamas violated the terms of the agreement reached with Israel to release 50 Israeli hostages within four days in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners at a ratio of one to three. This is reported by the Israeli authorities, citing the fact that Hamas released 13-year-old Hila Rotem without her mother Raya, who remains in the hands of the kidnappers. The little girl was greeted by her uncle in the last few hours. “Hila returns home without her mother Raya, who remains trapped. “Hamas seriously violated the agreement and separated mother and daughter,” said a statement from Israeli authorities, republished by the Walla news site.
7:30 a.m. – Israel receives the third list of names of the hostages to be released
Israel has received its third list of hostages, who are due to be released today. A well-informed official told the Times of Israel on condition of anonymity. The prime minister’s office said Israel had informed families whose relatives were on the list sent by Qatar, which mediated between Israel and Hamas. It will be the third day of a four-day ceasefire. Qatar said it hoped the ceasefire could be further extended by releasing more abductees.
7:24 a.m. – Hamas releases another 4 Thai hostages
Hamas militants have released four more Thai hostages who were kidnapped in southern Israel on October 7. They are Natthaphon Onkaew, Khomkrit Chombua, Anucha Angkaew and Manee Jirachat. Israeli authorities transferred the four foreign hostages to Shamir Medical Center for medical and psychological treatment. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the four were in good health. Tehran’s embassy in Bangkok said it helped secure the release of the Thai citizens by handing over a list to Hamas. The list was agreed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Speaker of the Parliament of Thailand.
2:25 a.m. – Israel receives a list of hostages that will be released today
A new list of hostages Hamas is expected to release today has been received by the Israeli prime minister’s office. The media reported on this and said the government had already taken action and informed the families of the people who would be released today.
2:08 a.m. – Middle East: UN, 200 aid trucks arrive in Gaza
Sixty-one trucks carrying medical supplies, food and water have delivered their cargo to northern Gaza as a lull in fighting allows aid to reach the besieged coastal area. Another 200 trucks were sent to the Gaza Strip from Nitzana, Israel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement, and 187 of them crossed the border. Eleven ambulances, three buses and a flatbed truck were delivered to Al-Shifa Hospital, where heavy fighting has taken place in recent days, “to assist with evacuations,” the statement said. “The longer the ceasefire lasts, the more aid agencies will be able to send into and through Gaza,” he added, thanking the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent groups. The day before, as a temporary ceasefire began between Israel and Hamas to facilitate the exchange of hostages and prisoners, a total of 137 trucks delivered aid to Gaza, according to the United Nations. “Today we welcome the release of additional hostages and renew our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” Ocha said, “and hope that the release of additional Palestinian detainees will bring relief to their families and loved ones.”
1:49 a.m. – Middle East: 39 released Palestinian prisoners return home
Israel’s prison authority said yesterday it had released 39 Palestinian prisoners after the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, released 20 hostages under an agreement that took effect on Friday. The deal is expected to last four days and allow for the release of 50 Hamas hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners. In Israeli-occupied and annexed East Jerusalem, the released prisoners, all women and young people under the age of 19, were discreetly celebrated in the presence of the Israeli police. Members of the Israeli security forces in boots, helmets and weapons were particularly numerous at the home of Israa Jaabis, 39, the most notorious prisoner on the list. His photo, showing his withered fingers and partially burned face in front of an Israeli court, is regularly used at demonstrations or to illustrate the suffering of Palestinian prisoners.
“I am ashamed to talk about joy when all of Palestine is hurting,” he told reporters alongside his 13-year-old son Moatassem in the family living room in his Jabal Moukkaber neighborhood. “You have to release everyone,” he demanded. Ms Jaabis was sentenced to 11 years in prison for detonating a gas cylinder she was carrying in the boot of her car at a checkpoint in 2015, injuring a police officer. The NGO Addameer, which provided her with a lawyer, reports that she suffered burns to over 50% of her body. According to the Palestinian authorities, he now requires six operations.
In the rest of the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, there was joy and, above all, slogans praising Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA, the European Union and Israel. It was this Islamist movement, a major rival to Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah, the Palestinian Authority president whose power extends only to some areas of the West Bank, that brokered the hostage exchange deal with Israel. “Ezzedine! “Ezzedine!” the crowd chanted, referring to Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades. By Friday evening, hundreds of Palestinians had chanted “We are your men, Deif” or “We want Sinouar,” in reference to Mohammed Deif, the elusive commander of Hamas’ armed wing, and Yahya Sinouar, the movement’s leader in Gaza. Just as the first group of 39 prisoners left the prison, the Prisoners’ Club, a Palestinian NGO that advocates for prisoners, reported that 17 Palestinians had been arrested that same day.