Hamas to release a third group of hostages in exchange of Palestinian prisoners
Hamas says it has released a third group of hostages today. Under the temporary cease-fire agreement, Israel is to free more Palestinians in exchange. This follows yesterday's delay, when Hamas initially held off releasing hostages and calling on Israel to allow more aid deliveries into Gaza. For details, we're joined now by NPR's Greg Myre in Tel Aviv. Hi, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Sarah.
MCCAMMON: So what is the latest with the release of these hostages?
MYRE: Well, Israel's military says it's received word from the Red Cross that these 14 Israeli hostages, as well as three foreign hostages, have been handed over from Hamas to the Red Cross. Hamas is also confirming this with a statement on its Telegram social media channel. Now, we don't have the names or other information about the hostages just yet. In the past couple of days when Israelis have been released, some of them are dual nationals. So while they have Israeli citizenship, they may be also citizens of other countries. National security adviser Jake Sullivan in the U.S. said there may be an American today, so we'll certainly be checking for that. We just don't know the details yet.
And the Israelis have been - when they've been freed, have been going out through southern Gaza. The Red Cross escorts them. They go into Egypt. Then they make a short trip into Israel and then work their way to a hospital in Israel for a medical checkup. And again - then after this happens, a Palestinian group is released, and it's a 3-to-1 ratio. So if 14 Israelis are being freed, we should expect 42 Palestinians to be released.
MCCAMMON: So were more things to watch out for today. But this all comes after yesterday's delay in the exchange of hostages and prisoners. And that's been on everyone's minds.
MYRE: Yeah, Sarah. You know, yesterday it was day two of this process and we were expecting releases in the afternoon. But but it emerged that Hamas was intentionally delaying the release. It claimed that not enough humanitarian aid was reaching northern Gaza, and it said this was part of the agreement. Israel said aid trucks were going to northern Gaza. So Qatar, which is the main broker in the cease-fire, stepped in, as did the U.S. and Egypt, and it took more than seven hours to resolve this yesterday. And Hamas didn't release the Israeli hostages until just before midnight, along with four citizens of Thailand. And then a little after midnight, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.
MCCAMMON: As we've said, Greg, details about this latest group of hostages who were - have just been released, those are still coming in. But as far as the hostages freed yesterday, they were a mix of women and children. What more can you tell us?
MYRE: Yeah. It was eight children and five women released yesterday on the Israeli side. And one of them, Emily Hand, who just turned 9 years old earlier this month, has a pretty remarkable story. She had a sleepover at a friend's house the night before the Hamas massacre in southern Israel on October 7, and the home where she stayed was attacked. Israeli officials initially thought she was among those killed, and that's what they told her father, Tom Hand, who then gave some very emotional interviews. But a couple weeks later, Israeli officials went back to the father and said they'd uncovered evidence that Emily was alive and was being held by Hamas.
MCCAMMON: Such an emotional roller coaster for that family. What now?
MYRE: Well, you know, she was freed last night. There's video of her running to embrace her father. We should note that Emily's mother died of cancer when she was just 2 years old. And her stepmother was killed in the Hamas attack last month. It's unlikely she would have known this - known about the death of her stepmother - before she was freed. And this is one of the cruel twist of these hostage releases. They've been key figures in the whole war, but yet they were literally kept in the dark in underground Hamas tunnels and probably had very little knowledge about the extent of the attack. And as their hostage ordeal ends, they're now receiving the additional shock of learning that family and friends were killed.
MCCAMMON: And briefly, Greg, what can you tell us about the Palestinian prisoners who've been released?
MYRE: Right. So we're talking about those freed yesterday, which - 39 of them - 33 teenagers, six women. They were ranging from minor offenses to serious offenses. Again, if this goes well, more releases are expected today, as it looks like is playing out, and then again tomorrow.
MCCAMMON: That's NPR's Greg Myre reporting from Tel Aviv. Thank you.
MYRE: Sure thing, Sarah. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
