Second wave of hostages on way to Egypt, Israeli official says

A second group of hostages released by Hamas amid it’s short-term truce with Israel are on their way to Egypt, according to an Israeli official.

The Israeli military said 17 hostages in total were released — including 13 Israeli and four Thai hostages.

“The released hostages’ convoy is currently making its way through Egypt to the meeting point at Kerem Shalom,” the official said. “Security representatives will verify the list at the meeting point with the released hostages.”

“The families of the hostages are being updated by IDF representatives with the latest available information,” they said.

Qatar and Egypt have served Israel and Hamas as key negotiators in the exchange amid the four-day pause in fighting.

The latest movement comes after the militant group delayed the release for hours, claiming Israel had violated the terms of the agreement. Hamas alleged Israel did not send the amount of aid into northern Gaza that it promised, and failed to release the right number of Palestinian prisoners in its first exchange on Friday.

“We have been preparing to welcome our people home and accompany them and their families,” the IDF posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with a video showing their preparations. “We remain determined to return all of our hostages home.”

In the first release, Hamas freed about two dozen hostages taken captive. Among those freed were 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and a Filipino.

Israel, in exchange, released 39 Palestinians from prison — a small fraction of the 150 expected to be released under the deal.

A Qatari delegation was sent to Israel on Saturday to “ensure the deal continues to move smoothly,” the Associated Press reported.

President Biden spoke with Qatar officials early on Saturday about the hostage deal and humanitarian pause in Gaza.

“The leaders discussed hurdles to implementation of the deal and mechanisms for resolving those hurdles as soon as possible,” the White House said in a statement. “They agreed to remain in close contact to ensure the deal is fully implemented according to its terms.”

Biden was asked by reporters during his Nantucket, Mass., trip about when more information on the hostage release will be released.

He replied, “Hopefully we’ll see something soon,” per the pool report.

The IDF suggested the truce could be extended one day for every 10 additional hostages Hamas agrees to release.

Overall, Hamas agreed to release 50 of the more than 200 hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war.

Despite the deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until all of the hostages are returned.

Laura Kelly contributed reporting.

This story was updated at 5:47pm.