First group of 13 Israeli hostages safely back in Israel

The first group of 13 Israeli hostages has arrived back in Israel via Egypt. 

The released Israelis:
Ohad Mundar
Keren Mundar
Ruti Mundar
Hanna Katzir
Margalit Mozes
Yafa Ader
Hannah Perry
Adina Moshe
Danielle Aloni
Emilia Aloni
Aviv Asher
Raz Asher
Doron Katz-Asher

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:,“We have now completed the return of the first of our hostage — Children, their mothers and other women. Each and every one of them is an entire world. But I stress to you, the families of the hostages, and to you, the citizens of Israel: We are committed to the return of all our abductees. This is one of the goals of the war and we are committed to achieving all goals of the war.”

The IDF confirmed: “Our forces are accompanying the released hostages until they reach their families at the hospitals,” the statement says. The commanders of the IDF and its soldiers salute and embrace the returning hostages upon their return home.”

Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron said: “It is a huge relief to see hostages returned today.” In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “My thoughts are with all of those families who have been going through unimaginable trauma, especially those still waiting for their loved ones to come home.”

Twelve Thai nationals were also released in a surprise additional deal that Egyptian officials said they had brokered. Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners were also released from Israel as part of the agreement and multiple tankers of humanitarian aid will enter the Gaza Strip.

They headed to Israel after being driven into Egypt by the International Committee of the Red Cross via the Rafah border crossing. They underwent medical and psychological evaluations, Israel’s health ministry said.

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has welcomed the “critical” temporary truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict but said it was only the “first step” towards the release of all hostages.

The Prime Minister said the UK will work with partners in the region to “make sure that this deal sticks”, as more life-saving humanitarian aid began entering Gaza as part of the agreement.

It marks the first significant halt in the conflict that erupted after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, in which it took about 240 hostages.

The first group to be released, expected to be women and children, were on their way out of Gaza with the Red Cross, Israeli media reported.

Thailand said 12 of its nationals held by Hamas in Gaza were also freed on Friday.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was visiting the Occupied Palestinian Territories to meet Palestinian leaders and commit a further £30 million in aid for the people of Gaza.

On the second day of his trip to the region to advocate adherence to the new agreement on all sides, the former prime minister also spoke to aid agencies about their humanitarian response in the territory as well as settler violence in the West Bank.

Mr Sunak told broadcasters: “We’ve consistently pushed for sustained humanitarian pauses so that we could get more aid into Gaza and get hostages out, so this is a very welcome development.

“It’s obviously the first step. We need to make sure everyone abides by the terms of the agreement and we want to see all hostages released, including protecting the safety of British nationals that are involved.”

He thanked Qatar and Egypt for the intensive weeks-long diplomacy in helping to secure the deal.