(WSVN) - Two Israeli children have been reunited with their families after Hamas, released 17 hostages late Saturday night.
Since the cease-fire, no American hostages have been released. The Biden administration said that the U.S. will keep fighting to bring them home.
A Red Cross convoy from Gaza made it to Egypt’s Rafah crossing before heading back to Israel on Saturday.
Thirteen Israelis and four Thai nationals were released from Hamas captivity.
Thomas Hand thought his daughter Emily was killed during the Oct. 7 attacks after spending the night at a friend’s house.
“They said, ‘We found Emily, she’s dead,’ and I went, ‘Yes’ and smiled because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew,” said Hand.
After spending her ninth birthday in captivity, the Irish-Israeli girl is alive and back in Israel as one of the 17 hostages released on day two of a hostage-prisoner swap.
It accompanies a four-day humanitarian pause in fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas.
A reported 340 aid trucks arrived at the Rafah crossing, but an Egyptian official said the aid hasn’t made it to Gaza yet.
The future for Hand and other families is one of mixed emotions.
“The unknown is awful. The waiting is awful, but that’s what we got to do now. Just pray and hope she comes back in some broken state, but we can fix her,” said Hand.
Meanwhile, in the West Bank, there was jubilation for the 39 Palestinians who had been imprisoned or detained in Israel. Twenty-four were held without knowing the charges against them and without an ongoing legal process in what’s called an “administrative detention.”
Fifteen people were serving sentences for attacks on Israelis.
A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN they had all been convicted of terrorism charges.
“Involved in terrorist activities one way or the other,” she said.
Biden and the White House continually worked on the latest release, which was nearly derailed on Saturday.
“This is really probably part of Hamas’ strategy. They are a cruel terrorist organization that never misses an opportunity to inflict emotional pain,” said a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces.
No Americans have been released yet. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about it.
“So we’re gonna continue to be diligent and vigilant in doing all that we can in that regard to ensure that there is humanitarian aid going in, that hostages are going out, and our highest priority, of course, are the American citizens who are being held,” said Harris.
Israel said it has the list of Gaza hostages to be released on Sunday. The agreement calls for Hamas to release a totoal of 50 Israeli hostages for them to release 150 Palestinian detainees and prisoners.
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