Hamas hands over 17 more hostages including three foreign nationals as third day of fragile truce deal holds, IDF says

HAMAS has handed over 17 further hostages on the 50th day of fighting between the terror group and Israel.

The IDF said Hamas released 14 Israeli civilians and three foreigners to the Red Cross on the third day of their fragile truce.

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The terrified civilians were apparently handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza, AFP reports.

Hamas has also confirmed the release of more hostages, but said they let 13 Israeli civilians go along with three Thai nationals and one Russian-Israeli citizen.

The dual citizenship may explain the difference in figures.

It comes on day three of the temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel – where the parties had agreed to exchange Israeli civilian hostages for Palestinians kept in Israeli prisons.

The terror group has released 26 Israeli hostages so far, as well as others of different nationalities, in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners.

But the truce hit shaky ground on Saturday when Hamas delayed the release of its hostages over alleged violations of the agreement by Israel.

The terror group claimed it had delayed the release of hostages because only 65 vehicles filled with humanitarian aid had reached northern Gaza since the ceasefire began on Friday.

Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said this amount was “less than half of what Israel agreed on”, the BBC reported.

A senior Hamas official further alleged Israel flew drones over southern Gaza, killed two Palestinians in an area of Gaza where civilians are free to move, and made changes to an agreed list of Palestinian prisoners to be released.

Israel denied violating the terms of its truce deal with Hamas, and an Israeli source told AFP: “Israel has not violated the agreement.”

But late last night 13 hostages were released, including Irish-Israeli Emily Hand, who turned nine in Hamas captivity.

Emily and her dad Thomas enjoyed a tearful reunion as the nine-year-old underwent physical and mental health checks after nearly 50 days held by the terror group.  

Red Cross officials in Gaza last night confirmed the handover had taken place and the group made their way to safety in Egypt before returning home to Israel.

Israeli PM Netanyahu today visited northern Gaza for the first time since the start of the war.

He said: “We are making every effort to return our hostages, and eventually we will return them all.”

“We have three goals for this war: eliminating Hamas, returning all our hostages, and ensuring that Gaza does not become a threat to the State of Israel again.

“We will continue until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.”

The IDF said approximately 40 children are believed to be held captive by the terror group following the October 7 massacre.

And under the new truce deal, around 12 hostages are set to be released per day in phases, it has been understood.

However, moments before the ceasefire began on Friday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) insisted the truce “is temporary” – and urged people in Gaza not to move north.

“The war is not over yet,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.

“The northern Gaza Strip is a dangerous war zone, and it is forbidden to move north.

“For your safety, you must remain in the humanitarian zone in the south.”

Palestinian civilians have been fleeing for their lives as Israel attempts to destroy Hamas after the terror group massacred 1,200 civilians on October 7.

Families living in Gaza have been caught in the brutal crossfire, with regular accusations that the terrorists are attempting to use them as “human shields”.

Much of the northern part of the strip has been turned into a devastated warzone – with ruined buildings, dwindling supplies and horrific suffering for Gaza’s people.

The Red Cross estimates that some 1.5million civilians have been forced to flee south amid the Israeli onslaught from land, air and sea.

Figures for the death toll remain unverified – but Hamas’ health officials claim more than 11,000 civilians, including more than 4,500 children have been killed.

Israel disputes these figures – and US President Joe Biden said he had “no confidence” in them.

But Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Israel has “not been successful” in reducing civilian casualties.

He said the deaths must be blamed on Hamas – not Israel.

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