Released Israeli hostages 'in hands of Red Cross' as ceasefire in the Middle East continues

Hamas said tonight it has handed over 20 hostages to the International Committee for the Red Cross. Saturday marks the second day of a four-day ceasefire and the news tonight follows the release on Friday of 13 Israeli hostages and more than 30 Palestinians from Israel.

Qatari and Egyptian mediators earlier said Hamas had agreed to release 13 Israelis and seven foreign nationals on Saturday in exchange for 39 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Forces in Israel confirmed the 13 were with the Red Cross on their way to Egypt.

The announcement came after Hamas delayed the releases for several hours, saying Israel had violated the terms of a truce deal that had set the stage for such swaps. Saturday is the second day of what was meant to be a four-day truce.

Until Saturday afternoon, it still appeared everything was going according to plan. Aid trucks were entering Gaza, Hamas handed a list of more than a dozen hostages slated for release to mediators Qatar and Egypt, and Israel’s Prison Service prepared a list of dozens of Palestinian prisoners for release.

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But by nightfall, as the hostages should have emerged from Gaza, Hamas announced that it was delaying the release over what it said were Israeli truce violations.

The group alleged the aid deliveries permitted by Israel fell short of what was promised, and that not enough of the aid was reaching northern Gaza — the focus of Israel’s ground offensive and the main combat zone. Hamas also said not enough veteran prisoners were freed in the first swap on Friday.

“This is putting the deal in danger and we have spoken to mediators about that,”