Hila Rotem, 13 with her father (IDF)
Of the more than 240 hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, 26 Israelis and 15 citizens of Asian nations were released over the first two days of the four day long ceasefire negotiated between the parties. The Israelis so far released have all been women and children.
The ceasefire deal included the release of 50 Israeli hostages, all women and children, over the four days. Hamas, however, cynically chose to take the opportunity to release a number of Asian foreign workers who were at kibbutzim raided by the terrorists on the day of the October 7 massacre. These are neither Israeli citizens, nor Jews, and they were taken to Gaza as hostages anyway.
By releasing non-Israelis in addition to the 50 Israelis promised, Hamas might think that it is gaining some sort of goodwill with nations like Thailand and The Philippines where the foreign workers freed are from.
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Hamas released a video showing some of the released hostages waving goodbye to their former captors. But the terrorists foolishly forgot to delete the audio and its people can be heard instructing the hostages to do so.
Israeli officials warned over the weeks since the October 7 attack that Hamas could not be trusted to negotiate the release of hostages in good faith. Hamas proved them right on Saturday by delaying the release of the second group of hostages by several hours over new demands that more relief supplies be brought into Gaza before their release. This, as was probably its intention, was a torment for the families of those to be released waiting for them in Israel.
The hostages were finally released at 1 A.M. Sunday, nine hours late.
Emily Hand and her father Tom Hand (IDF)
Part of the ceasefire deal includes the transfer of tons of humanitarian supplies, such as food and fuel, to Gaza during the pause in the fighting.
The IDF reported that on Saturday 200 trucks with humanitarian aid were sent to international aid organizations that operate in Gaza through the Rafah Crossing on the Egyptian border as part of the operational pause, and within the framework for the release of the hostages agreed with the U.S., with the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.
The humanitarian aid trucks carried food, water, equipment for shelters and medical supplies.
But much of these supplies are likely to end up in the hands of Hamas terrorists who will use fuel to power the generators in their underground bunkers and for launching rockets at Israeli civilian targets.
After their release, the hostages underwent an initial assessment of their medical conditions before rejoining their families.
