17 hostages released in second group amid temporary cease-fire in Gaza

A group of 17 hostages were freed from the Gaza Strip on Saturday and arrived in Egypt, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Thirteen Israelis and four Thais were freed as part of a decisive deal between Israel and Hamas to end the fighting. As part of the agreement, 39 Palestinians were expected to be released.

“Recently, representatives of the Red Cross transferred the abductees to Egypt,” the Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday. “The convoy of kidnapped people returning to Israel advances through Egyptian territory to the meeting point in Kerem Shalom.”

The release followed a one-hour delay in release earlier in the day. It comes a day after a group of 24 hostages were freed.

On Friday, Doron Katz-Asher, 34, and his two young daughters, Raz, 4, and Aviv, 2, were among those released on a list released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Amelia Aloni, 6, and her mother Daniel, 45, were also on the list, as was Ohad Munder-Zichriwho spent his ninth birthday in captivity, his mother Keren, 54, and his grandmother Ruth, 78.

Also on the list was Hanna Katzir, 76, who was previously thought to have been murdered. She was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, when her husband, Rami, was murdered.

Israel, in return, released 39 Palestinians it had been holding for various alleged crimes.

The families of the hostages have tirelessly demanded the release of their loved ones and held a demonstration last month outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. Israel has said that around 240 hostages were taken when Hamas attacked the country on October 7.

The temporary ceasefire agreement, which began on Friday and will last four days, was reached after an “extremely excruciating five-week process,” according to an official in US President Joe Biden’s administration. An administration official said Biden was directly involved in the deal negotiations and received hourly updates on their progress. Biden thanked the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and Israel, who helped negotiate the deal, during a televised address from Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Under the agreement, hundreds of trucks will be allowed to deliver aid to the region. At least 50 hostages are expected to be released from Gaza and 150 Palestinians from Israel at the end of the four-day truce.