Hamas has handed over a third group of hostages amid a truce deal with Israel.
Earlier, Israel said it has received a list of hostages slated to be released by Hamas Sunday.
U.S. President Joe Biden said an American girl, 4-year old Abigail Edan, was among those freed by the militants from their captivity in Gaza.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC’s “This Week” show that “her parents were slaughtered right in front of her” during the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
In all, Sullivan said Hamas has been holding nine Americans and a foreign national with U.S. employment rights – three women and children and seven men.
Israel says it will extend its pause in the warfare another day for each additional 10 hostages of the remaining 200 or so Hamas is holding.
“If the pause stops,” Sullivan said, “it rests on the shoulders of Hamas.”
Meanwhile, the Palestinian health ministry said Sunday that Israeli forces shot dead at least six Palestinians overnight on the West Bank.
Hamas released 17 hostages late Saturday, 13 Israelis and four Thais. A short time later, early Sunday, Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners.
The hostages were released hours later than expected after the militant group accused Israel of violating the exchange agreement, claims Israeli officials denied.
Qatari and Egyptian mediators were able to address Hamas’ concerns, and the hostages were finally released just before midnight.
Of the 13 released Israelis, there were seven children and six women, most from Kibbutz Be’eri. The children ranged in age from 3 to 16, and the women ranged from 18 to 67.
The announcement of the hostages’ release came from the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security service after the prime minister's office said in a statement that the government "embraces the 17 hostages that are returning home, 13 of our citizens and four Thai citizens."
A video released by Hamas showed the hostages appearing shaken but mostly in good physical condition as masked militants led them to Red Cross vehicles headed out of Gaza. They were taken to hospitals in Israel and reunited with their families.
Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., U.K., EU and others.
Although one of Israel’s preconditions for the swap was not to split the families of the abductees, at least two families from Kibbutz Be’eri were split. A kibbutz spokesperson said all the released hostages either had a family member killed in the Oct. 7 rampage or had left a loved one in captivity in Gaza.
One was Hila Rotem, 12, whose mother remains with Hamas.
Of the 39 Palestinian prisoners, 33 were children and six were women, a Qatari spokesperson said.
Television images showed prisoners being welcomed home.
The most prominent individual released was Israa Jaabis, 38, who had been imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted of carrying out a bombing attack that wounded an Israeli police officer and left Jaabis with severe burns on her face and hands.
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant went to the Gaza Strip on Saturday for an operational assessment. He met with commanders and soldiers and discussed using the pause to prepare to resume ground operations once the hostages are all free.
“We cannot leave Gaza and stop the war until we reach a situation in which we bring back all the hostages — because we have many more [held captive],” he said. It is believed Hamas is still holding more than 200 hostages.
Israel began its military campaign to wipe out Hamas after Hamas fighters crossed into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel said 1,200 people were killed and some 240 captives taken in the terror attack. Gaza health officials say more than 14,000 Palestinians, including at least 5,000 children, have been confirmed killed in Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Saturday afternoon with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and was briefed throughout Saturday on the latest of the hostage deal implementation, spokesperson Adrienne Watson for the White House National Security Council said.
The U.N. said the pause allowed it to increase its humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza.
On Friday, 200 trucks were sent from Nitzana to the Rafah crossing, and 137 trucks of goods were offloaded at the reception point in Gaza by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East. Another 187 aid trucks moved into Gaza on Sunday.
Four tanks of fuel and four tanks of cooking gas were transferred from Egypt to U.N. humanitarian aid organizations in the southern Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing. The fuel and cooking gas are designated for operating essential humanitarian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement that 61 trucks of aid were delivered to northern Gaza on Saturday, the largest number since Oct. 7. They included food, water and emergency medical supplies.
Eleven ambulances, three coaches and a flatbed were delivered to Shifa Hospital to assist with evacuations.
Another 200 trucks were dispatched from Nitzana and 187 of them entered Gaza by 7 p.m. local time. In addition, 129,000 liters of fuel crossed into Gaza, the U.N. statement said.
For many of the 2.3 million people who live in the Gaza Strip, the pause in the near-constant air and artillery strikes has offered a first chance to safely move around, take stock of the devastation, and seek access to the humanitarian aid pouring into Gaza.
Over the course of the cessation in fighting, Hamas is to release at least 50 hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners, as part of an agreement struck during talks involving Israel, Palestinian militant groups, Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Israel said the four-day stop in fighting would be extended an extra day for every 10 additional hostages freed by Hamas. A Qatari spokesperson said Doha hopes to broker another agreement to release more hostages from Gaza by the cease-fire's fourth day.
VOA’s Natasha Mosgovaya contributed to this report. Some information for this article was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
