Hamas militants released a second group of 13 Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.
The hostage-for-prisoner swap was delayed for hours in a tense atmosphere after Hamas accused Israel of violating its obligations under an agreement reached as part of a four-day ceasefire.
After the intervention of Qatari and Egyptian mediators and assurances from Israel, Hamas agreed to release 13 Israelis and four Thai hostages late at night.
Israel in turn released 39 Palestinian prisoners.
Red Cross vans transported the hostages through Egypt's Rafah border crossing before transferring them to Israel.
Among the freed Israelis is 21-year-old Maya Regev, abducted by Hamas in their deadly October 7 attack on the Supernova festival.
Maya Regev and her 18-year-old brother Itai, who was also abducted by Hamas during the festival, were later shown tied in the back of a pickup truck in a video posted on social media.
“I am so excited and happy that Maya is already on her way to us. However, my heart is broken because my son Itai is still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza," their mother Mirit said in a statement released by the families of the hostages, AFP reported.
The family of freed nine-year-old hostage Emily Hand said they were "overjoyed" to have her back in their arms. "We can't find the words to describe our emotions after 50 days."
Israeli authorities announced that they had in turn released 39 Palestinian prisoners, including Isra Jabis, 38, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for detonating a gas cylinder at a checkpoint in 2015.
The handover of the Hamas hostages came hours later than expected after the militants said Israel was choosing which prisoners to release and was preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in northern Gaza.
The terrorist organization later said it had "responded positively" to Egyptian and Qatari mediators after they delivered Israel's pledge to "fulfill all the terms of the agreement."
A day ago, Hamas released the first group of 13 Israelis, all women and children. Ten Thais and one Filipino were also unexpectedly released by Hamas. Israel in turn released 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons under an agreement that mandated a three-for-one exchange.
The pause in fighting in Gaza has opened the way for more aid to the Palestinians, as Israel has placed Gaza under an almost total siege.
A total of 61 trucks delivered food, water and humanitarian aid through "humanitarian crossings" to northern Gaza, the UN humanitarian office said.
Another 187 trucks of vital supplies were sent separately to humanitarian organizations working in the Gaza Strip, it said.
Egypt said it had received positive feedback from both sides on the idea of extending the truce by a day or two and releasing more hostages and prisoners. /BGNES
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