The deal announced on Wednesday last week promised the release of 50 of the approximately 240 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. It has produced extraordinary images of family reunions, a respite for Palestinians from Israeli air strikes, and the delivery of a portion of the aid that is desperately needed in Gaza.
The deal almost collapsed on Saturday, when Hamas claimed that Israel was stopping the delivery of aid to the north of Gaza, but ultimately held with the second exchange going ahead but delayed for several hours. Now the question is whether a possible extension – which would see an additional day of “pause” for every ten hostages released – will be taken up when the arrangement expires tomorrow morning.
Israeli hostages | Children reunited with families among 63 freed so far
Among the most powerful stories of those released was that of nine-year-old Emily Hand, an Irish-Israeli girl who was initially thought to have been killed in the 7 October Hamas massacre only to be named among the hostages. Her father, Tom, said at a press conference in London recently: “She must be saying every day: ‘Where is my daddy – why isn’t he coming to save me?’”
On Saturday, she ran into his arms. Footage of their reunion (main image) at an Israeli hospital – and, a moment later, 13-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani being embraced by her uncle – was among a host of extraordinary videos celebrated by an Israeli public that has been desperate for news of released hostages since the October attack took place.
The terms of the deal saw Hamas release women, children, and the elderly – but no adult Israeli men or military personnel have been included except one Russian-Israeli after direct talks between Moscow and Hamas. Fourteen Thai seasonal workers and one Filipino were also freed, as well as the first American, four-year-old Abigail Mor Edan, whose parents were killed in the Hamas attack. While 50 were expected to be released, so far the total is 63 once foreign nationals are factored in. There are still thought to be a dozen children held in Gaza.
Most of the freed hostages have not spoken to the media directly, but one of those released, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, described “a hell that we never knew before” and being taken through a “spider web” of tunnels before being treated well by guards. Family members of others have described conditions of total isolation. Two teenagers, Noam and Alma Or, only learned after their release that their mother had been killed and their father is missing, their uncle told the Guardian. There are more details about some of the first hostages to be released from Gaza here; Emine Sinmaz and Emma Graham-Harrison heard from some of their families in Israel, and in Thailand, Rebecca Ratcliffe and Navaon Siradapuvadol spoke to Rungarun Wichangern, whose brother Vetoon Phoome was also among those freed.
Some of those celebrating the release of loved ones can only allow themselves a qualified kind of relief because other relatives are still being held. Hila Rotem Shoshani’s mother, Raya, is one of those still in captivity this morning. Adi Shoham was freed along with her son and daughter, but her husband and two other relatives are still somewhere in Gaza. “This is the saddest joy and the happiest sadness,” said Shoham’s cousin Inbal Tzach, “but our family is home.”
Palestinian prisoners | Chaotic scenes, joyful reunions, and a ban on celebrations
Palestinian families waiting for the release of their loved ones gathered outside Ofer prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Friday night; there were chaotic scenes as crowds were dispersed with tear gas by Israeli forces, and on Saturday, only one person was permitted to pick up each released detainee. Far-right interior minister Itamar Ben Gvir said that Palestinians were banned from celebrating their release, because “Expressions of joy are equivalent to backing terrorism”.
All of the 117 released so far were women and children (some of whom turned 18 in Israeli custody). While some had been convicted of stabbings or making explosives, others were held on much more minor charges, like stone throwing or damaging property. CNN reported that 10 children and 23 women who were released by Saturday had been detained under the administrative detention system in place in the West Bank that allows imprisonment without charge or trial for six months at a time, with no overall limit.
Bethan McKernan spent Saturday with the Awad family as they awaited the release of Noorhan Awad, 24, who was jailed eight years ago for stabbing an Israeli man with scissors; she initially denied the charges but, like many Palestinians facing a legal system with a 98% conviction rate, ultimately pleaded guilty. “So much has changed since Noorhan was home last,” said Noorhan’s mother, Sumaya, 43. “We are so excited. I don’t want to hope too much.”
There were videos of joyful reunions among Palestinian families, too, including one of Noorhan Awad. Perhaps the best-known case was that of Israa Jaabis, who was convicted of detonating a gas cylinder in her car at a checkpoint in 2015, an incident that left her with severe burns and which she claimed was accidental. With Israeli forces surrounding the family home in East Jerusalem, she was reunited with her teenage son (pictured above), whom she last saw when he was seven, and told reporters: “I am shy to hug him, because he became a man, but when he calls me ‘my mum’ I remember again that he’ll always be a small child in my eyes.”
What happens next | Hopes of an extension grow
While more aid has been coming into Gaza during the ceasefire and civilians have had some relief from daily air strikes, UN officials say that the deliveries have been nothing like the quantity needed after seven weeks of war. Hamas has also complained that Israel has not respected the terms of the deal.
Israel has offered day-long extensions of the “pause” for each additional tranche of 10 hostages released after the initial arrangement ends tomorrow morning. Egyptian officials have spoken of “positive signals” about that happening, while Joe Biden said that “the chances are real”. And the pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to go further has been raised by a protest of thousands of Israelis in front of Tel Aviv’s military headquarters on Saturday.
But the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has called the ceasefire “a short respite, at the end of which the fighting will continue intensely” and predicted another two months of fighting.
On Friday, Patrick Wintour wrote that both sides have powerful reasons to reject an extension. But with Hamas signalling its openness to further releases and Benjamin Netanyahu responding positively, hopes that the pause might continue are higher this morning.
Central to that prospect is whether Hamas is able to locate some of the dozens of hostages said to be held by other groups in Gaza, the Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman told the Financial Times. “If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension,” he said. “We don’t yet have any clear information how many they can find.” Even if that happens, the fighting is likely to resume in 2-4 days time.
