Israel, Hamas complete 2nd day of swaps after tense delay, as Gaza cease-fire holds

The late-night exchange was held up for several hours after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement.

The last-minute delay created a tense standoff on the second day of what's meant to be a four-day cease-fire. Hamas alleged aid deliveries permitted by Israel fell short of what was promised and not enough reached northern Gaza. Hamas also said not enough longtime prisoners were freed in the first swap Friday.

Egypt, Qatar and Hamas later said the obstacles had been overcome.

The war erupted Oct. 7, when Hamas militants in Gaza burst across the border into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting some 240 others, including, women, children and older people. Israel immediately declared war, carrying out weeks of airstrikes and a ground offensive that left over 13,300 Palestinians dead, according to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled territory. Roughly two-thirds of those killed in Gaza have been women and minors.

The cease-fire, brokered by Qatar and the United States, is the first extended break in fighting since the war began. Overall, Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners — all women and minors.

Israel said the truce can be extended by an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed, but vowed to quickly resume its offensive and complete its goals of returning all hostages and destroying Hamas' military and governing capabilities.

Thousands of people gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday in solidarity with the hostages and their families.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced early Sunday that it received a new list of hostages slated to be released later in the day in the third of four scheduled swaps.

In the West Bank, hundreds of people burst into celebrations for a second night as a busload of Palestinian prisoners arrived early Sunday. Teenage boys released in the deal were carried on the shoulders of well-wishers in the main square of the town of Al Bireh. They waved Palestinian flags as well as green banners of Hamas and yellow banners of the Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas.

The start of the pause brought quiet for 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, who are reeling from Israeli bombardments. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel also went silent.

War-weary Palestinians in northern Gaza, the focus of Israel's offensive, returned to the streets, crunching over rubble between shattered buildings and at times digging through it with bare hands.

For Emad Abu Hajer, a resident of the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza City area, the pause meant he could again search through the remnants of his home, flattened in an Israeli attack last week. He found the bodies of a cousin and nephew, bringing the death toll in the attack to 19. Three other relatives are still missing. "We want to find them and bury them in dignity," he said.

At the Indonesian hospital in Jabaliya, besieged by the Israeli military earlier this month, bodies lay in the courtyard and outside the main gate.

The United Nations said the pause enabled it to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the resumption of aid convoys on Oct. 21. It was also able to deliver about 35,000 gallons of fuel, as well as cooking gas.

For the first time in over a month, aid reached northern Gaza. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 61 trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies headed there Saturday, the largest aid convoy to reach the area yet. The U.N. said it and the Palestinian Red Crescent were also able to evacuate 40 patients and family members from a hospital in Gaza City to a hospital in Khan Younis.

Shortly before midnight, Hamas released 13 Israelis and four Thais. The Israelis were turned over to Egypt and then transferred to Israel, where they were taken to hospitals to be reunited with their families.

Hamas released a video showing the hostages appearing shaken but mostly in good physical condition as masked militants led them to Red Cross vehicles headed out of Gaza. Some of the hostages waved goodbye to the militants.

The Israeli hostages included seven children and six women, Netanyahu's office announced. Most were from Kibbutz Be'eri, a community Hamas militants ravaged during their Oct. 7 cross-border attack.

Some of the Palestinian prisoners were released in east Jerusalem, while the bulk returned home to a hero's welcome in the occupied West Bank.

Among those released was Nurhan Awad, who was 17 in 2016 when she was sentenced to 13½ years in jail for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier with scissors.

In Jerusalem, Israeli troops evicted journalists who gathered outside the home of Israa Jaabis, who was imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted of carrying out a bombing attack that wounded an Israeli police officer and left Jaabis with severe burns.

Jaabis later told reporters at her home that she is "ashamed to be happy at a time when Palestine is injured."

Advocacy group Palestinian Prisoners' Club says Israel is holding 7,200 Palestinians, including about 2,000 arrested since the start of the war.

Late Saturday, Palestinian health authorities said four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, hours after another raid in the same area killed the local governor's 25-year-old son.

A 16-year-old Palestinian boy was also killed by Israeli fire near the city of Ramallah.