Hamas fighters to free more hostages

Hamas fighters were set on Sunday to release a third group of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a day after freeing captives including a young woman snatched from a desert rave.

In a sign of the fragility of the exchanges, the latest swap on Saturday was delayed for hours after Hamas accused Israel of breaching its side of the deal that led to a four-day ceasefire in the seven-week-old war.

Despite the dispute, Hamas finally released 13 Israelis and four Thai hostages at night, officials said.

Israel said it in turn freed 39 Palestinian prisoners.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said it had since received a list of hostages due to be released by Hamas on Sunday.

The list was being checked by security officials, it said, and families of the hostages had been informed.

Egypt has said that it received positive feedback from both sides about the idea of extending the truce for a day or two and releasing more hostages and prisoners.

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

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called for “a permanent ceasefire and a complete end to this aggression”.

But Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said Saturday that the war to eliminate Hamas would continue.

“We will return immediately at the end of the ceasefire to attack Gaza,” Halevi said.

“We will also do this in order to dismantle Hamas, also to create a great deal of pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many abductees as possible, every last one of them.”

The latest hostage handover was delayed when Hamas said Israel was interfering in the selection of prisoners for release and not allowing aid to reach civilians in Gaza.

Hamas later said it relented when Egyptian and Qatari mediators relayed a promise by Israel to uphold the accord.

Israeli officials denied any breach of the ceasefire's terms, describing Hamas' actions as “psychological warfare”.

Despite the row, Sundays' release would be the third since the four-day truce entered into force Friday.

Hamas has released 26 Israeli hostages in exchange for 78 Palestinian prisoners in the two releases already completed.

The militants have also freed a total of 14 Thais and one Filipino. Iran's foreign ministry said it had joined with key mediator Qatar to help negotiate the release of the Thai nationals.

Israeli hostages who were let go in the initial swap Friday have since reunited with their families in touching scenes.

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

The pause in fighting has also allowed more aid to reach Palestinians struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. Israel had placed Gaza under near-total siege.

A total of 61 trucks delivered food, water and humanitarian aid via a “humanitarian passageway” to northern Gaza on Saturday, the United Nations Office for humanitarian affairs said.

Another 187 trucks of vital supplies had been sent separately to aid organisations operating in the Gaza Strip, it said.

The UN estimates that 1.7 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting.

Thousands have been returning since the truce to what is left of their homes.

AFP