Hamas releases 24 hostages.

Qatar and the Red Cross announced that Hamas released 24 people, marking the first group of hostages to be freed following the ceasefire agreement between the group and Israel.

"We confirm that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has received 24 citizens, including several women and children," Qatari Foreign Minister Majed Al Ansari announced on social media on November 24. Qatar was the mediator in negotiations to promote a ceasefire and the release of hostages.

Al Ansari said that among the 24 people released by Hamas were 13 Israeli citizens, some with dual citizenship, along with 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino.

The Red Cross branch in the region confirmed on the same day that it had received 24 hostages from Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They were taken to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

A Red Cross vehicle carrying hostages released by Hamas leaves the Gaza Strip for Egypt on November 24. Photo: Reuters

Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister announced the release of 13 Israeli citizens, which matched the information released by Qatar. Among them were four children and six people over 70 years old.

However, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he had received information that 12 Thai citizens had been released. This led media outlets to initially report that Hamas had released a total of 25 hostages, before revising the figure to 24 following announcements from Qatar and the Red Cross, which were directly responsible for the hostage evacuation.

The reason for the discrepancies in information from different sources is currently unclear.

A convoy of Red Cross vehicles carrying hostages released by Hamas left the Gaza Strip for Egypt on November 24. Photo: AFP

Both Israel and Thailand said their citizens would be taken to Israel's Hatzerim air base and then monitored at a hospital.

Also on November 24, the ICRC dispatched buses to Ofer prison in the West Bank to pick up 39 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel under the ceasefire agreement, including 24 women and 15 minors. Hamas issued a statement calling on Palestinians to "joyfully welcome" them.

A woman released from the Gaza Strip. Photo: Al Jazeera

Israel and Hamas reached a four-day ceasefire agreement starting November 24th. Under the agreement, Hamas released 50 hostages, while Israel freed 150 Palestinian prisoners and facilitated increased aid to the Gaza Strip. Further hostage and prisoner releases are expected in the coming days. Hamas took approximately 240 hostages during its raid on Israel on October 7th, including about 25 Thai nationals.

An official involved in negotiations with Hamas said the Thai hostages were released under a separate agreement, not as part of the aforementioned ceasefire. These Thai citizens were men and were not included in the exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, which only involved women and children. Their release resulted from a visit by the Thai Foreign Minister to Qatar in late October to promote the hostage rescue effort.

Following the release of the Thai hostages, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement thanking the ICRC and several countries, including Qatar, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, and Israel.

The Thai Ministry of Labour said that around 30,000 Thai citizens were working in Israel, mainly in agriculture , before Hamas launched its attack on October 7.

Location of the Rafah crossing point on the Egyptian-Gaza Strip border. Graphic: Data Wrapper

Nguyen Tien (According to AFP, Al Jazeera )

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