Israel and Hamas prepared for a third day of hostage releases from Gaza, after a last-minute dispute on Saturday threatened to derail a fragile truce.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday it had received a list of names of abductees whom Hamas is due to hand over later in the day. Since Friday, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza has freed 26 Israelis, some with dual nationalities, as well as 14 Thai nationals and one Filipino citizen.
The releases made in several stages are key to a deal brokered by Qatar and Egypt that’s brought a four-day pause of fighting in the more than six-week war, and allowed the flow of further humanitarian aid into besieged Gaza. As part of the pact, Israel has so far released 78 Palestinian women and children held in its prisons.
Saturday’s releases came hours later than expected after Hamas said Israel has violated the terms of the truce — accusations it denied. The snag underscored the shakiness of the agreement between Israel and Hamas, which the US and European Union designate a terrorist group. The militants infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting about 240 others.
Israel has unleashed its military might on the small, crowded Gaza Strip since the attack. At least 15,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The four-day truce is contingent on Hamas releasing a total of 50 hostages and Israel freeing 150 women and minors held in the nation’s prisons.
The humanitarian pause in Gaza has “largely held” since going into effect Friday, allowing the United Nations to boost the delivery of crucial aid into and across Gaza, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an update.
All the same, the agency said many people still have no food - or fuel to cook it with - and bakeries aren’t operating, raising concerns about nutrition, especially in northern Gaza, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive. It also reported that Israeli forces had arrested some Palestinians traveling along the Israeli-designated safe “corridor” from the territory’s north to south.
Seven Palestinians were killed in a missile attack by Israeli forces on the occupied West Bank, the Voice of Palestine radio station reported. Israel’s army hasn’t commented on the events.
US President Joe Biden earlier Saturday spoke with Qatari leaders “on potential holdups to the deal and mechanisms to resolve them,” said Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.
Biden, who said the first day of hostage releases had “gone well,” was kept informed of developments Saturday and, after his call with the Qatari leaders, senior US officials were in “regular contact with the Israelis, Qataris, and Egyptians to overcome hurdles,” Watson said.