Israel Gaza war live: Hamas hostages handed over to Israel as ceasefire holds

As he sits in Geneva, Michel Dreifuss does not feel all that far away from the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza. The ripples are rolling through Europe and upending assumptions both global and intimate — including those about his personal safety as a Jew.

“Yesterday I bought a tear-gas spray canister at a military-equipment surplus store,” the 64-year-old retired tech sector worker said recently at a rally to mark a month since the Hamas killings. The choice, he says, is a “precaution,” driven by a surge of antisemitism in Europe.

Last month’s slayings of about 1,200 people in Israel by armed Palestinian militants represented the biggest killing of Jews since the Holocaust. The fallout from it, and from Israel’s intense military response that health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza say has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, has extended to Europe. In doing so, it has shaken a continent all too familiar with deadly anti-Jewish hatred for centuries.

The tense cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be back on track early Sunday after the release of a second group of militant-held hostages and Palestinians from Israeli prisons, but the swap followed an hourslong delay that underscored the truce’s fragility.

The exchange was delayed Saturday evening after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement, which has brought the first significant pause in seven weeks of war marked by the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades, vast destruction and displacement across the Gaza Strip, and a hostage crisis that has shaken Israel.

The deal seemed at risk of unraveling until Qatar and Egypt, which mediate with Hamas, announced late Saturday that the obstacles to the exchange had been overcome. The militants released 17 hostages, including 13 Israelis, while Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Six Palestinians, including one minor, were shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank late Saturday and early Sunday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Five of the deaths occurred in the city of Jenin and the sixth was in Yatma, a village near Nablus city. Six others were injured during the shooting in Jenin, the ministry said.

The Israeli military spokesperson’s office said it was checking the reports.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli forces stormed Jenin “from several directions, firing bullets and surrounding government hospitals and the headquarters of the Red Crescent Society”.

Shortly after midnight, Israel began releasing 39 Palestinian prisoners to east Jerusalem and the West Bank as part of the swap that ultimately went through after international mediation efforts.

Released Palestinian woman Shurouq Duwiyat arrived at her home in Jerusalem where joyous family members hugged and kissed her.

“We send a message to our people in Gaza that we stand by your side and support you,” Duwiyat told reporters inside her home.

Also in Jerusalem, Israeli troops evicted journalists who gathered outside the home of Israa Jaabis, who had been imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted of carrying out separate attacks on Israelis. Jaabis suffered severe burns on her face and hands during a bombing attack that also wounded an Israeli police officer.

Hundreds of Palestinians waited in the West Bank town of Beitunia for the arrival of additional prisoners.

The Israeli hostages released Saturday by Hamas included seven children and six women, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced.

Most of the released hostages were from Kibbutz Be’eri, a community Hamas militants ravaged during their Oct. 7 cross-border attack, a spokesperson for the kibbutz said. The children ranged in age from 3 to 16, and the women ranged from 18 to 67.

Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in two separate incidents in the West Bank on Sunday, said the Palestinian health ministry.

The incidents occurred in Nablus and Jenin regions early morning today.

In total, six Palestinians are reported to have been killed since last night, marking continued raids by Israel in the occupied West Bank territory.

The Israeli army has been raiding cities and towns in the West Bank since 7 October and has arrested several Palestinians.

At least 229 Palestinians, including 52 children have been killed by Israeli forces, and over 3,000 people arrested.

Emily Hand, nine, was among the hostages released by Hamas on yesterday.

Her father Thomas, originally from Dun Laoghaire in Dublin, has spoken about how he is looking forward to giving her a huge hug.

He told the Daily Mirror that Emily would also be greeted by her beloved dog Johnsie and cuddly toys. They are also planning to give the young girl – who spent her ninth birthday in captivity – “the best birthday party she never had”.

Emily’s family in Ireland held a birthday party for her at St Stephen’s Green in the Irish capital as they campaigned for her release.

Mr Hand met Irish president Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Micheal Martin to press politicians to do all they can to press for his daughter’s release.

“We have been waiting for far too long for this moment. Every day has been a long and painful living nightmare… my Emily is coming home at last, broken but in one piece,” he said.

“She turned nine on November 17, more than a month after she was taken from me.

“I am sure she had no idea it was her birthday – she would have lost track of time and dates there. I still have the party balloons – this one is floating in my hotel room, but it’s lost a lot of air, it’s going flat. We’ll get hundreds and hundreds now and make a great party.”

Prime minister Srettha Thavisin said Thai nationals who are being released by Hamas after being taken as hostages were in good health and eager to contact their families.

“Everybody is safe, on the whole in good mental health and are able to speak normally,” he posted on X

The mother of a Thai hostage freed from Gaza late yesterday night said she was indescribably happy her son was returning and couldn’t believe the news first.

“My granddaughter called me at 5am saying my son was among the hostages released and I didn’t really believe it,” Thongkoon Onkaew told Reuters.

“Then she sent me the photo and I was like, ‘That’s my son! My son!'”

Thirteen Israelis and four Thai nationals, freed in a second round of releases by Hamas, arrived in Israel today as part of what is meant to be a four-day truce in the war to allow daily exchanges of hostages for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Hamas and Israel completed the second day of swaps on Saturday as 17 hostages were released by the militant group while 39 Palestinian women and children languishing in Israeli jails were freed.

The late-night exchange was held up for several hours after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement.

The army said Red Cross representatives transferred the freed hostages to Egypt late on Saturday.

They later said they were transferred to Israel where they were being taken to hospitals for observation and to be reunited with families.

Irish foreign affairs minister Micheal Martin said nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand was one of those released after being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

The ceasefire, brokered by Qatar and the US, is the first extended break in fighting since the war began on 7 October.

Overall, Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinians. All are women and minors.

Thousands of people gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday in solidarity with the hostages and their families.

In the West Bank, hundreds of people burst into wild celebrations for a second night as a busload of Palestinian prisoners arrived early on Sunday.

Teenage boys released in the deal were carried on the shoulders of well-wishers in the main square of the town of Al Bireh.