24 Hostages Finally Freed from Hamas

Twenty-four hostages were freed Friday, including Israeli women and children, as guns fell silent across the Gaza Strip for the first time in seven weeks as part of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.

Thirteen Israeli women and children who were among the nearly 240 civilians abducted during the Oct 7 terrorist attack were finally transferred out of Gaza and into the hands of the Red Cross at Egypt’s border crossing on the first day of the ceasefire.

Ten Thai nationals and one Filipino citizen were also freed, Qatar Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari confirmed.

Their release had been unrelated to the truce talks and was part of a separate deal negotiated by Egypt and Qatar, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Danielle Aloni, 45, and her 5-year-old daughter, Amelia, were among the Israeli hostages released on Friday, according to their cousin, Liam Zeitchik.

“Daniele and Amelia were released. No words, just thankful,” the Brooklyn resident wrote on Instagram.

An image showed Alony being embraced by an IDF officer as she held the hand of her young daughter.

Six of the freed women were in their 70s and 80s, including Yaffa Adar, an 85-year-old Israeli great-grandmother who was seen in infamous images being kidnapped by Hamas in a golf cart on Oct. 7.

The majority of the Israeli hostages released were from Kibbutz Nir Oz, including 72-year-old grandmother Adina Moshe, who was abducted from her home after her husband, Said Moshe, was slaughtered.

“I miss her very, very much, I want her to be back already. I want to have dinner with her and the entire family again,” said her daughter-in-law Corinne Moshe, whose husband and his siblings were waiting at a hospital to be reunited with their mother.

“Grandmother is a strong woman. She raised almost all the children of Kibbutz Nir Oz.”

The freeing of grandmother of six, Hannah Katzir, 77, also came as a shock. Several days earlier, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad falsely reported that she was killed in an Israeli attack while in captivity.

The final Israeli hostages released as part of the first group were identified as Margalit Mozes, 78, Hanna Perry, 79, Doron Katz-Asher, 34, Raz Asher, 5, Aviv Asher, 2, Ruth Monder, 78, Keren Monder, 54, and Ohad Monder, 9.

The Israeli military said the released hostages underwent an initial medical assessment inside Israeli territory before being taken to Israeli hospitals to be reunited with their families.

“We have just completed the return of the first batch of our hostages. Children, their mothers and other women. Each and every one of them is a world in itself,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

“But I stress to you, the families, and to you, citizens of Israel: We are committed to returning all our hostages.”

Footage showed Israeli hostages and humanitarian workers in ambulances being driven through Egypt’s Rafah Crossing in Red Cross vehicles, including one woman who could be seen waving.

A group at Rafah Crossing, which included two elderly women and a young girl, could then be seen being boarded onto a bus.

In all, 50 captives are expected to be freed after Hamas agreed to release dozens of women and children throughout the four-day cease-fire, which went into effect at 7 a.m. local time Friday — 12 a.m. EST.

Their release was followed in the evening by the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners — 24 women, including some convicted of attempted murder for attacks on Israeli forces, and 15 teens jailed for offenses like throwing stones.

As part of the deal, 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed during the ceasefire, though Israel has agreed to extend the “humanitarian pause” for one more day for every 10 additional hostages released.

No Americans were freed on Friday, but a senior White House official told NBC News they “remain hopeful that there will be Americans among the 50 released.”

The fresh release of hostages comes weeks after Americans Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, were freed. Two Israeli women, Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, and Nurit Yitzhak, 79, followed behind.

Meanwhile, since the ceasefire came into effect early Friday, no major reports of bombings, artillery strikes or rocket launches ad come through.

The pause of fighting is expected to be short-lived, though, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already vowing to press ahead with the war after the ceasefire expires.

Not long after the truce took effect, four tankers with fuel and four with cooking gas entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt, Israel said.

Under the agreement, Israel also agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters of fuel per day. For most of the past seven weeks of war, Israel had barred fuel entry to Gaza – claiming it could be used by Hamas for military purposes.

The Israeli military also dropped leaflets over southern Gaza, warning hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians not to return to their homes in the north, which is where the focus of Israel’s ground offensive is.

Still, hundreds of Palestinians could be seen walking north Friday.