GAZA CITY: The Hamas-Israel prisoner release deal was back on track on Saturday night after a row over aid supplies to the north of the besieged enclave was resolved following mediation by Qatar and Egypt.

A Palestinian official said Hamas would continue with the four-day truce agreed with Israel, the first break in fighting in seven weeks of fighting.

“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 seven foreigners,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on social media.

The armed wing of Hamas had said earlier it was delaying Saturday’s scheduled second round of prisoner release until Israel met conditions, including committing to let aid trucks into northern Gaza.

Hamas had suspended release of prisoners until Israel allowed aid trucks into Gaza’s north

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”.

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.

Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter told Channel 13 News that Israel was “abiding by the deal” with Hamas that Qatar had mediated.

Israel has said 50 trucks with food, water, shelter equipment and medical supplies had deployed to northern Gaza under UN supervision, the first significant aid delivery there since the crisis began on Oct 7.

The row over truce dented hopes of a smooth second day of prisoner releases after 13 Israeli women and children were freed by Hamas on Friday. Thirty-nine Palestinian women and teenagers were released from Israeli jails.

Israeli army spokesperson Olivier Rafowicz told a French television channel Israel was strictly honouring the terms of the truce, saying the military had carried out no attacks or “offensive operations” in Gaza on Saturday.

“This situation is obviously being managed at the highest level in Israel,” the spokesman added.

Excitement at releases

A video released by Hamas showed masked fighters with rifles, wearing military fatigues and the green headband of the group’s armed wing, handing prisoners over to the Red Cross.

Israel in turn freed 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons.

In a Tel Aviv suburb, people applauded as helicopters flew in the freed captives.

At Israel’s Wolfson Medical Centre, which received five elderly women prisoners, Dr Shoshi Goldner said “there was no one in the room that could hold his feelings and stop crying”.

“You are finally home in a safe place,” Goldner said. “Today we are excited about the returnees, but I want us not to forget all those who have not yet returned,” Yael Adar, daughter-in-law of former prisoner Yaffa Adar, 85, told Israel’s Ynet news website.

About 215 captives remain in Gaza, though in many cases it is unknown if they are dead or alive, Israeli army spokesman Doron Spielman said.

Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 prisoners during the truce in exchange for 150 Palestinians, under an agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

‘Finally home’

“It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well,” US President Joe Biden told reporters, adding “the chances are real” for extending the truce.

But Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Saturday: “We all want this truce to turn into a permanent ceasefire and a complete end to this aggression.”

Israel’s Kibbutz Nir Oz community issued a statement welcoming the release of a Filipino, Gelienor Pacheco, 33. It said he was caregiver to Amitai Ben Zvi, murdered in the Oct 7 raid.

Roongarun Wichanguen, sister of 33-year-old Vetoon Phoome, a Thai, expressed joy and disbelief that he is coming home.

“His (Phoome’s) face was very happy, and he seemed okay,” she said, adding that he told her he “was taken care of very well. It looks like he just stayed in a house, not the tunnel”.

Palestinians celebrate

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, fireworks exploded and crowds filled the street where they hoisted aloft young men who had been freed from prison.

Wearing identical grey jumpers, the freed prisoners waved Palestinian and Hamas flags.

“I spent the end of my childhood and my adolescence in prison, far from my parents and their hugs,” Marah Bakir, 24, a released female prisoner, said after returning to her home in annexed east Jerusalem.

Bakir served eight years for attempting to kill an Israeli border guard.

Earlier in the evening, Israeli forces fired tear gas to disperse crowds as the prisoners were released. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces shot and wounded three people.

In Israel, authorities asked the media to let the newly-freed reunite with loved ones in privacy.

Among those released was Hannah Katzir, 76, who according to her family uses a walking frame and needs medication. Mothers and their children were also freed, including Doron Katz-Asher, 34, and her two young daughters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring all the prisoners home. “This is one of the goals of the war,” he said.

The pause in fighting opened the way for more aid to Gazans struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. Trucks carrying supplies including fuel, food and medicine, began moving into Gaza through the Rafah crossing from Egypt on Friday, and more entered on Saturday.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2023