Scores of sick and injured Palestinians, including wounded members of Hamas, queued to cross into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing as three more Israeli male civilian hostages were released to Israel as part of the continuing ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Gaza.
Meanwhile on Saturday, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was among five people killed in Israeli air strikes on Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, as a large-scale Israeli military operation there looks set to continue for a third week.
In Gaza, Hamas handed the first two hostages over to the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip in the morning before they were received by the Israeli military a short while later.
A few hours later 183 Palestinians and detainees held in Israeli jails were led out of prison.
Fiachna Ó Braonáin of Hothouse Flowers: ‘I was quite disappointed by Bono. I don’t think Sinéad O’Connor would have done it’
Hamas lists three Israeli hostages for release despite alleging ceasefire breach
Trump imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court, accusing it of targeting US and Israel
Number of Palestinians seeking asylum in Ireland rises eight-fold
As the first Red Cross buses arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah they were greeted by jubilant crowds.
The Rafah crossing, long a lifeline for Palestinians, has been closed for months after Israeli forces took control of the surrounding area, with the reopening of the crossing marking a significant moment in phase one of the complex ceasefire deal.
Buses were collecting sick and wounded from Gaza hospitals for Saturday’s crossing, including children who require treatment in Egypt.
The first two Israelis to be released by Hamas included Yarden Bibas, the father of a young family, whose wife and children became poignant symbols of the hostage crisis and remain unaccounted for amid “grave concerns” for their wellbeing.
Ofer Kalderon, a French-Israeli dual national, and Mr Bibas were handed over to a Red Cross official in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, as part of a phased exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
US-Israeli dual national Keith Siegel was released on Saturday to the Red Cross at Gaza port, live television footage showed.
Mr Bibas is the father of the two youngest hostages, baby Kfir, nine months old when he was kidnapped by Hamas-led gunmen on October 7th, 2023, and Ariel, who was four at the time of the cross-border attack.
Hamas said in November 2023 that the boys and their mother Shiri, who was taken at the same time, were killed in an Israeli air strike. There has been no word on them since.
Seventeen of the 33 hostages due for release in the first stage of the ceasefire have now been released in exchange for 400 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Negotiations are due to start by Tuesday on agreements for the release of more than 60 remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in a second phase of the deal.
The initial six-week ceasefire, agreed with Egyptian and Qatari mediators and backed by the United States, has so far stayed on track despite a number of incidents that have led both sides to accuse the other of violating the deal.
The Hamas attack on October 7th, 2023 killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s campaign in response has destroyed much of the densely populated Gaza Strip and killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities.
In the West Bank, the Israeli military continued with strikes on Jenin begun on January 21st, just two days after the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas came into effect.
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers, backed by the air force, have since engaged in gun battles with Palestinian militants in Jenin as they search for military weapons and equipment, Israel says.
Asked whether a teenage boy had been killed in an air strike, the Israeli military said the air force had struck “armed terrorists” in the Jenin area, declining further comment.
The Palestinian health ministry later said four others had been killed in Israeli air strikes on the Jenin area. The Israeli military said in statement the air force had struck a vehicle “with terrorists inside” in the area of Jenin’s Qabatiya.
At least 18 Palestinians, including six members of armed militant groups and a two-year-old girl, have been killed in Jenin and nearby villages during the operation, according to Palestinian officials.
The Israeli military said forces had killed at least 18 militants and detained 60 wanted individuals, dismantling more than 100 explosive devices and seizing a weapons-making workshop.
Israeli officials have repeatedly said the country’s enemy Iran smuggles weapons to West Bank militants, and that the military is acting against the “Iranian axis”.
Israel has not recently released any evidence to support its claims, and while western officials concur that Iran is smuggling weapons into the West Bank, some dispute how substantial this operation is.
In Jenin, dozens of houses have been demolished and roads in the refugee camp there have been dug up by armoured Israeli bulldozers, driving thousands of people from their homes.
Water supplies have been cut and Palestinian officials say that at least 80 per cent of the camp’s inhabitants have been forced to leave their homes.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday the military would stay in Jenin until the operation is complete, without saying when that would be. – Agencies
