Key Points
- Qatar’s foreign ministry confirmed the row over aid to Gaza has been settled.
- Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day.
- A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.
A Palestinian official familiar with the diplomacy said Hamas would continue with the four-day truce agreed with Israel, the first break in fighting in seven weeks of war.
An injured Palestinian girl lies on a donkey cart after travelling to the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday. Source: AAP / Mohammed Saber/EPA
“After a delay, obstacles to release of prisoners were overcome through Qatari-Egyptian contacts with both sides, and 39 Palestinian civilians will be released tonight, while 13 Israeli hostages will leave Gaza in addition to 7 foreigners,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on social media.
Eight children and five women would be released by Hamas as well as the seven foreigners, he said.
Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan said only 65 of 340 aid trucks that had entered Gaza since Friday had reached northern Gaza, which was “less than half of what Israel agreed on.”
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid wait to cross from the southern Gaza Strip into the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday. Source: AAP / Mohammed Saber/EPA
Al-Qassam Brigades also said Israel had failed to respect the terms of the Palestinian prisoner releases. Qadura Fares, the Palestinian commissioner for prisoners, said Israel had not released detainees by seniority, as was expected.
Some 39 Palestinian women and teenagers were released from Israeli jails. Israeli army spokesperson Olivier Rafowicz told French television Israel was strictly honouring the terms of the truce, and said the military had carried out no attacks or offensive operations in Gaza on Saturday.
Has the truce been extended?
The Israeli army spokesman said earlier Israel had been expecting another 13 hostages to be set free on Saturday, with 39 Palestinian prisoners also to be released – barring last-minute changes.
To date, some 14,800 people, roughly 40 per cent of them children, have been killed, Palestinian health authorities said on Saturday.
Palestinians walk after crossing from the northern Gaza Strip to the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday. Source: AAP / Mohammed Saber/EPA
Before the delay to the latest hostage and prisoner exchange, Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing through which aid supplies have resumed into southern Gaza, said it had received “positive signals” from all parties over a possible truce extension.
Israel has said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continues to release hostages at a rate of at least 10 per day. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could go free.
Hamas, in its entirety, is designated as a terrorist organisation by countries including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US while New Zealand and Paraguay list only its military wing as a terrorist group.
Other countries voted against a UN resolution condemning Hamas in its entirety, as a terrorist organisation.
Contrasting scenes of joy and sadness
He and three other children released at the same time were in relatively good condition, Gilat Livni, the centre’s Director of Paediatrics told reporters.
Yoni Asher was reunited with his family on Saturday. Source: AAP / AP
“They shared experiences, we were up with them until late at night and it was interesting, upsetting and moving,” said Livni.
In Thailand, where authorities welcomed the release of 10 of its nationals under a separate deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, a mother danced for joy when she saw her daughter Natthawaree Mulkan was among the hostages released by Hamas.
“There is no real joy, even this little joy we feel as we wait,” said Sawsan Bkeer. “We are still afraid to feel happy,” she said.
