Hamas releases 20 Israeli hostages In exchange for 39 Palestinians

The Palestinian Hamas movement has agreed to release 13 Israelis and seven foreigners in exchange for 39 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, Qatari and Egyptian mediators said.

Close to midnight on November 25, Hamas said it had handed over all 20 to the International Committee for the Red Cross, Euronews reports.

Hours earlier the Islamist militant group that runs Gaza delayed the second round of swaps for several hours and claimed that Israel had violated the terms of a truce deal.

They will be taken to the Rafah checkpoint on the Gaza Strip border with Egypt, and from there they will be transported to Israel.

Among the Israelis released on November 25 were eight children, four mothers and one young woman.

Four more Thai nationals were released in a separate deal struck by Egypt with participation from Qatar and Iran, after initial reports that seven were to be released.

Among those released, many lost their loved ones on October 7, and many have relatives still held hostage.

The hostage swap is taking place as part of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that began on November 24.

In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian security prisoners early Sunday morning as part of the truce deal with the Hamas terror group, in exchange for the release of the second group of Israeli hostages who had been held by terrorists in Gaza for 50 days.

Footage from the West Bank and East Jerusalem showed crowds welcoming and cheering their arrival. 

The released female and underage inmates all live in either the West Bank or East Jerusalem and were the second group to be returned to their homes, after 39 others were released on November 24. They had all been charged with or convicted of terror-related crimes, including attempted murder, but none were convicted of murder.

In total, 50 Israeli hostages — children, their mothers and other women — are to be released over a four-day pause in fighting in exchange for 150 Palestinian security prisoners.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an urgent meeting with the country's security officials to assess whether the second phase of the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip is going according to plan.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a situation assessment meeting with the leadership of all security forces to ensure that the second stage of the deal [to release the hostages] will go as planned,” his office said in a statement.

On November 25, Hamas's militant wing, the Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, announced its decision to delay the release of a second group of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, demanding that Israel comply with the terms of the agreement regarding the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the northern part of the Strip and begin to comply with agreements on the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has rejected claims that it has violated the terms of the deal and said the army will resume fighting in the Gaza Strip if the second group of hostages is not released by midnight local time (Sunday 02:00 Baku time). A few hours later, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced that the reasons for the delay in releasing the second group of hostages had been overcome through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. In turn, the Israeli official, after these reports, expressed “cautious optimism” that the second group of hostages would still be released by the end of the day, The Times of Israel newspaper reports.

On the first day of the cease-fire, Hamas released 24 of the roughly 240 hostages taken during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, and Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison. Those freed in Gaza were 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and a Filipino.

Overall, Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners, during the four-day truce — all women and minors.