American girl, 4, among 17 hostages freed on third day of cease-fire

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Manhattan Bridge in New York today to call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Both lanes of the bridge were closed for about two hours because of the demonstration, according to police.

Three Thai hostages Hamas released today are in good health, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said in a post on X.

The three Thai nationals were among 17 hostages freed on the third day of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Migrant workers from Thailand, one of Israel’s biggest sources of foreign labor, were the largest single group of foreigners among Hamas’s estimated 240 hostages, and 17 have been released since the cease-fire began Friday.

The Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry congratulated the newly freed hostages and their families and thanked all parties involved in their release.

“For the remaining 15 Thai hostages, the Royal Thai Government continues to exert all efforts towards their safe release at the earliest opportunity,” the ministry said in a statement.

Videos show the emotional moments when some of the people held hostage were reunited with their families.

In one video, released Israeli hostages were met by thousands of Israelis waving flags and recording their arrival near Hatzerem, Israel. In others, 9-year-old Emily Hand is seen running into her father's arms and hugging her sister as her dogs excitedly welcome her home.

Mother and daughter Sharon and Noam Avigdori are also seen in a video embracing family members in an Israeli hospital, and in another video, Maya Regev, whose younger brother is still being held by Hamas, hugs her mother in an emotional reunion.

Yasmine Abu Rujileh, 23, married Khalil Al Najjar, 26, just before the war began on Oct. 7. The couple have spent the last several weeks sheltering east. But when the tentative peace deal went into effect, they decided to check on their residence in Khan Younis.

What they found was the wreckage of their former home.

Before the war, they were dreaming of living a safe life and starting a family.

"My wish is for the truce to last forever ... stop all war … stop all the destruction, stop the siege. … We will come back even to sit the rubble of our house," Rujileh said.

Keith Siegel, whose wife was released today, is among the hostages still being held, officials said.

Siegel is a North Carolina native, Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., said in a statement calling for the release of the remaining hostages.

His wife, Aviva Siegel, was kidnapped Oct. 7 from her home in kibbutz Kfar Aza.

A senior official told NBC News that the Biden administration is focused on the remaining hostages and that Biden received an update on their possible status earlier today.

The official said the administration will “now work to reunite” Aviva and Keith Siegel “through efforts to extend the pause and secure the releases of hostages beyond women and children.”

Aviva Siegel, 62, will get to return to her family after more than 50 days since she was kidnapped from her home in kibbutz Kfar Aza, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum headquarters.

Siegel is a kindergarten teacher whom the forum described in a statement as someone who especially loved children.

"She’s also a pillar of her family," the forum said. "Aviva brings laughter and lightness everywhere she goes, enjoys hiking, baking, and cooking, and especially spoiling her children and grandchildren."

Her partner, Keith, was also kidnapped on Oct. 7 but has not been released. 

As the tenuous peace deal reaches its third day, the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency continues to assess the level of damage in Gaza.

Its situation report today notes more than 1 million people are sheltering in 156 of its locations as the number of internally displaced people increases. The agency is also working with teams to help provide as much medical care as possible, particularly to the estimated 50,000 pregnant Palestinians.

More than 10,500 patients have been seen by 282 medical staff members.

Mental health services area being provided in Khan Younis, with a team of two psychiatrists along with 16 counselors and supervisors being referred cases. They had handled 776 cases through individual consultations as of yesterday, UNRWA said.

Two of the hostages released today were Dafna Elyakim, 15, and her 8-year-old sister, Ela Elyakim, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum headquarters.

Both were described as joyful young girls who have an affinity for creative activities. Dafna draws and loves to sing and has a talent for arts and crafts.

Ela is a gifted painter, while also being a girl who "always knows what she wants."

"From the moment she learned to stand and walk she hasn’t stopped dancing," the forum said.

Thirty-nine more Palestinians were released today in accordance with the temporary peace agreement, the Israel Prison Service confirmed.

The International Committee of the Red Cross also said on X it helped to facilitate the release of 19 Palestinian detainees from Israeli detention centers.

Earlier today, a spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry said almost all of the prisoners being released today were children. The Israeli authority has not yet released information about n the released prisoners’ identities or ages.

Hamas released a third groups of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

TEL AVIV — Alma Avraham, 84, was taken to the hospital in critical condition after IDF troops met hostages inside Gaza, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a briefing today.

Hagari did not elaborate on Avraham's condition but noted that she is receiving treatment after having been taken for care by helicopter. Other hostages were given initial medical examinations and also taken to the hospital.

"There is still much work to be done, and our mission will not be complete until everyone, everyone, will return home," Hagari said. "This is the moral obligation of every IDF soldier and commander, together with the security establishment."

Abigail Edan's family said there are "no words" to express the gratitude and relief over the news that Abigail will be returning home.

Liz Hirsh Naftali and Noa Naftali, Abigail's great aunt and cousin, thanked Biden and the Qatari government for their help negotiating the deal that led to her release.

"Today’s release proves that it’s possible," their statement said. "We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing."

The Naftalis added that they "continue to stand with the families of all the hostages still held captive."

Hagar Brodutch, 39, and her three children, Ofri, 10, Yuval, 8, and Uriah, 4, were among the people Hamas released today, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum.

Brodutch's husband, Avihai, found 4-year-old American Abigail Edan after she ran from her home, where her parents were killed in the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. Unfortunately, the refuge he thought he was offering the small girl failed, as she, his wife and their three children were abducted and held hostage.

Hamas wants to extend the limited peace deal "by seriously seeking to increase the number of released detainees as stated in the humanitarian truce agreement,” the group said today in a statement on Telegram.

The current temporary cease-fire agreed upon by Hamas and Israel limits the pause to four days as 50 Israeli women and children are released. Other foreign national hostages were also released in direct deals with other countries during the pause.

But the deal also allows for a potential extension — an extra day for every 10 hostages released, U.S. officials have said.

Three young Palestinian students were on their way to a family dinner last night when they were shot by a man with a handgun, who fired at least four shots and ran away, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a news release.

Two of the victims were struck in the torso, and the other was struck in the “lower extremities,” police said. Two of the men were wearing keffiyehs, traditional scarves worn by people across the Middle East. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee also said the men were speaking Arabic at the time.

"At this time, there is no additional information to suggest the suspect’s motive, such as statements or remarks by the suspect,” police said.

The families identified the victims as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed in a joint statement today. Awartani is a student at Brown University, Abdalhamid is a student at Haverford College, and Ahmed is a student at Trinity College.

Follow along for live updates.

Palestinians took advantage of the tenuous and short-lived cease-fire in Gaza by collecting supplies from aid trucks that have been allowed inside the strip, according to video taken by Sky News.

In Khan Younis, which is the southern region of the strip, people lined up at fuel trucks to stock up before the tentative agreement ends. It's the first time since Oct. 7 that they've had access to cooking gas, Sky News reported.

A man told the British broadcaster that he hoped the limited cease-fire extends so people can improve their living conditions with access to basic necessities.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza today put out a call asking for help at Kamal Adwan Hospital in north of the besieged enclave.

In a statement, the ministry urged any available medical and nursing personnel to go to hospital to assist the staff already there.

It said the hospital is under “enormous work pressure, especially in the specialties of obstetrics, children, nursery, surgery and orthopedics.”

The Israeli military has warned people in the south of the strip not to return to the north, where it is conducting military operations.

Hamas announced the death of Ahmed al-Ghandour, who was in charge of northern Gaza and a member of its top military council. He is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting. Israel’s military confirmed the death.

Al-Ghandour, believed to have been around 56 years old, had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life and was involved in a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.

Hamas said that he was killed along with three other senior militants, including Ayman Siam, who Israel says was in charge of Hamas’ rocket-firing unit. The Israeli military mentioned both men in a Nov. 16 statement, saying it had targeted an underground complex where Hamas leaders were hiding.

The Israeli military claims to have killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence, including several mid-ranking commanders it has identified by name.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited his some of his country's commanders and troops in the Gaza Strip, a his office said in a statement today.

After describing them as Israel’s “hero fighters,” the statement said he set out three goals for the war: eliminate Hamas, return all the hostages to their homes, and ensure that Gaza “is no longer a threat” to Israel.

“Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the war’s goals, and we will,” he said.

Hagar Brodutch and her three children, Ofri, Yuval and Uriah, were among the 17 hostages released by Hamas today.

They were taken from the Kfar Aza kibbutz on Oct. 7. Ofri turned 10 the next day, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum. Yuval is 8 and Uriah is 4.

Hagar Brodutch, 39, grew up in Kibbutz Gvulot and moved to live in Kfar Aza nine years ago with her husband, who works in agriculture, according to a statement from the forum. She works as the community manager for Kibbutz Magen.

President Joe Biden praised the release of 4-year-old American Abigail Edan, one of 17 hostages released by Hamas today, on the third day of the truce.

“Nothing is being taken for granted, but the proof that this is working and worth pursuing further is in every smile and every grateful tear we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together again,” he said during remarks in Nantucket, Massachusetts. “The proof is little Abigail.”

“More than 20 other children 18 years and younger have been released — they’ve been released through this deal as well,” he added. “They’ve endured a terrible ordeal and they can now begin the long journey toward healing.”

Biden also said that his administration’s “goal to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow, so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza.”

Israel released 39 Palestinians, all of whom are minors, from Israeli prisons, the spokesman for Qatar's foreign ministry said on X. The Palestinians were freed in exchange for 17 hostages who were abducted by Hamas.

More than a dozen hostages are on their way to Israel through two different entry points, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The Red Cross has turned over a dozen hostages to Israeli forces already, and those individuals will be taken into Israel through a border fence to Hatzerim Base. One of the hostages is expected to be transferred to a hospital by helicopter, the IDF said.

Four other hostages, an Israeli citizen and three Thai citizens, will be taken through the Rafah crossing into Egypt, the statement said. After that, they will meet with IDF soldiers "in Israeli territory," the military said.

An American girl who spent her fourth birthday held captive by Hamas was freed by the militant group Sunday as a part of the four-day cease-fire and hostage exchange agreement between Israel and the militant group.

Abigail Mor Edan was among 17 hostages freed on the third day of the fragile truce, which has seen Israel release Palestinian prisoners and allow aid into the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum.

In its statement, the organization called Abigail an unwilling symbol of war and that "all of Israel and the world welcome her safe return."

In an exclusive interview in Washington with NBC News’ Lester Holt earlier this month, Abigail’s great-aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali revealed that the little girl’s parents were killed in their home at the Kfar Aza kibbutz.

Read the full story here.

Hamas said in a statement today that it released a hostage with Russian citizenship "in appreciation of the Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause" and efforts from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry, said the deal was worked out directly between Hamas and Russian diplomats.

Earlier this month, Putin discussed the situation in Gaza during his address to the country's public chamber. He said anyone who wasn't upset over the plight of Palestinians in Gaza had a "heart of stone," according to an NBC translation of Reuters video.

"Against the background of the horrors taking place there (in Gaza), it is easy to do so, because ... when you look at the suffering and bloodied children, you clench your fists and tears come to your eyes," Putin said.

The military wing of Hamas said that it has released 17 hostages to the Red Cross: 13 Israelis, three Thai nationals and one Russian national.

Fourteen Israeli hostages and three foreign hostages have been transferred to the Red Cross, the Israel Defense Forces said based on information it received from the International Red Cross.

A marine vessel was seized off the coast of Yemen, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said today.

UKMTO said in an advisory it had initially received a "report of two black and white craft carrying 8 persons in military style clothing" that was approaching the vessel. Later it issued another alert saying "unauthorized persons" had boarded the vessel.

In the latest incident alert issued, UKMTO said it was aware of "reports of a possible attack," advising other vessels in the vicinity to exercise caution.

The attack comes a week after militants believed to be Houthi rebels used a helicopter to seize a Japanese tanker in Red Sea.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said he issued a summons to the Irish ambassador “for a reprimand” after taking umbrage with how the country’s prime minister characterized the release of a hostage.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar celebrated the release of Emily Hand, a 9-year-old dual citizen who was abducted by Hamas last month, with a post on X. Varadkar said yesterday was an enormous relief after an “innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned.”

Cohen quoted Varadkar’s post and accused the prime minister of trying to “legitimize and normalize terror.”

“It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!” Cohen wrote. “Emily Hand was not ‘lost’, she was kidnapped by a terror organization worse than ISIS that murdered her stepmother.”

Palestinians head south today on Salah Al-Din Road, the main artery running down the center of Gaza (top). An Israeli soldier looks out from one the shattered buildings along the road (below).

Among the Palestinian prisoners released yesterday was Israa’ Al-Ja’abes, whose story prompted a documentary that was shortlisted for an Academy Award. She was arrested for allegedly "having nationalistic motives for killing Israelis."

Al-Ja’abes lost eight fingers and was badly burned when her car exploded near East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, according to a profile by Addameer, the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, which said she is married and had a young son.

Al-Ja’abes has maintained her innocence, saying the explosion was an accident. Israel charged her with terrorism, putting her behind bars for 11 years. Addameer said she was kept in the male section of the prison and was monitored by security cameras.

Upon her release, Al-Ja’abes was greeted by family. Israel has disallowed celebrations around the release of Palestinian prisoners in East Jerusalem. “My instructions are clear: There are to be no expressions of joy,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said earlier this week.

People in northern Gaza and Gaza City are "experiencing famine," Adnan Abu Hasna, media adviser for the U.N. agency for Palestinian relief, told Al Jazeera today. "Intestinal and skin diseases are more widespread than before."

The agency needed 120 tons of fuel per day to start basic facilities, Abu Hasna said, adding that 200 humanitarian aid trucks needed to enter every day for two consecutive months.

He added that this need exceeded the Rafah border crossing's capacity of 130 trucks and an additional crossing would need to be opened to deliver enough fuel and relief goods.

The U.S. is “hopeful” that Abigail Mor Edan, who spent her fourth birthday held hostage by Hamas, will be freed today, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” today.

“We think it’s long past time,” Sullivan said, adding that the little girl “tragically lost her parents” in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the militant group.

“Hopefully, literally any hour now, we will know which of the Americans is out,” he said. “We have a sense of who it is, but I am just not in a position to confirm it because we want to make sure that the release goes off as indicated.”

In an exclusive interview in Washington with NBC News’ Lester Holt earlier this month, Abigail’s great-aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali revealed that the little girl’s parents were killed in their home at the Kfar Aza kibbutz.

Palestinians collect allotments of cooking fuel and bags of food as a steady flow of aid enters Gaza, including heavily besieged northern Gaza. Aid agencies say that while these are the largest convoys of aid to enter so far, it is still not enough to meet the basic needs of Gazans.

The Israel Defense Forces warned people in Gaza today not to return to northern Gaza, even as the cease-fire enters its third day.

The Israeli military has warned civilians throughout its bombardment of Gaza to move south for safety, at times providing specific routes that it said would be exempt from attacks. It has also said that the IDF is planning the next phases of war once the pause has lifted.

Some in northern Gaza have neither the ability nor the desire to leave, while others remain wary of a repeat of the 1948 Nakba, or "catastrophe," when many Palestinians were forcefully displaced from what became Israel.

KFAR KILA, Lebanon — With a cautious calm prevailing over the border area in south Lebanon on Saturday, the second day of a four-day cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, villages that had emptied of their residents came back to life — at least briefly.

Shuttered shops reopened, cars moved through the streets, and a family on an outing posed for photos in front of brightly colored block letters proclaiming “I (HEART) ODAISSEH” in one border town, with the tense frontier as a backdrop.

Around 55,500 Lebanese are displaced by the clashes between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The fighting has killed more than 100 people in Lebanon, including more than a dozen civilians — three of them journalists — and 12 people on the Israeli side, including four civilians.

Read more here.

Yaffa Adar, 85, knew from the smoke and destruction that much of kibbutz Nir Oz was gone when she was taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, her granddaughter Adva Adar said today.

Yaffa, described as tough by her granddaughter, realized during her days in captivity that there would be no returning to her life as it was.

“She needs to start over and she mentioned … that for an 85-year-old woman, usually you have your house that you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes,” Adva Adar said. “And she has nothing and in her old age she has to start over.”

Yaffa Adar learned after being released on Friday that family members she thought had perished are still alive.

“When she came, she talked to them over the phone so at least she knows that they are alive and it does help,” Adva Adar said. “A house is something that we will help her build and find a place where she will feel comfortable.”

Four Thai nationals — Natthaphon Onkaew, Khomkrit Chombua, Anucha Angkaew and Manee Jirachat — were among the 17 hostages released by Hamas yesterday.

They were all healthy and did not need urgent medical attention, according to a post on X by the prime minister of Thailand. He added that they were all able to speak normally and were looking forward to taking showers and contacting relatives.

Ten Thai nationals were also freed on Friday, alongside 13 Israelis. The release of the Thai nationals was part of a separate deal with Hamas brokered by Turkey.

Keren Munder, a hostage released Friday along with her son, Ohad, and mother, Ruthy, told a relative that they were given bread and rice while being held by Hamas, but not regularly.

“Keren and her mom, Ruthy, lost each one of them between 6 to 8 kilos, and they are not that tall. They ate a lot of rice and bread,” Merav Raviv, a family member, said today.

She added that they were sleeping on benches, or chairs combined to form a bench, in a kind of reception area. 

“When they wanted to go to the bathroom, they had to knock on the door and sometimes they were awaiting it to be opened and sometimes they were waiting one and a half hours or two hours to go to the bathroom,” she said.

Upon returning, the Munders also learned news of their relatives: Ruthy's husband and Ohad’s grandfather, Avraham, is still being held hostage by Hamas. Raviv said the Munders thought he’d been killed on Oct. 7. They also learned that Ruthy’s son was killed by Hamas in the attacks.

The largest number of aid trucks since the start of the war entered northern Gaza today, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. The trucks were loaded with food, water, medical supplies and fuel, which had been heavily restricted to very limited quantities prior to this truce.

In addition, 11 ambulances, three buses and a flatbed truck were delivered to assist with evacuations from Al Shifa hospital. In the days ahead of the truce, Al-Shifa had come under intense strain amid Israel's arial and ground assault.

Another 200 aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza today. The longer the pause lasts, the more aid humanitarian agencies will be able to send aid across Gaza, OCHA said.

The Israel Defense Forces said today it killed five people in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and arrested another 21 people.

In a statement on Telegram, the IDF said its troops exchanged fire with militants and found ammunition, weapons and military equipment. The operation was part of sweeping campaign by Israeli security services since Oct. 7, that has seen some 2,000 people arrested in the West Bank.

Earlier, the Gaza health ministry said that two people south of Jenin were shot by Israeli forces. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said last night on X its ambulance had been targeted and the Israeli forces were preventing its teams from reaching injured people.

NBC News is not able independently verify these claims.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar welcomed the release of a 9-year-old Israeli-Irish girl yesterday who was held hostage by Hamas since it launched the Oct. 7 attacks.

"This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family," he said on X.

"An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered," he said.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement today that it was reviewing the list of hostages slated for release by Hamas militants.

The information was conveyed to the hostages’ families, the statement said.

The scheduled release would be the third since Israel and Hamas reached a deal that would see the militants release at least 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinians being freed from Israeli jails.

Both hostages and Palestinian prisoners were released during the first two days of a four-day cease-fire, with more expected should the truce continue to hold.

The Biden administration is “disappointed” no Americans have been released as a part of the hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas, but officials remain “hopeful” that at least three Americans with dual Israeli citizenship will be freed as part of the overall deal for the release of 50 hostages, two senior administration officials told NBC News.

“We are disappointed that we haven’t seen the Americans on a list yet, but we are hopeful for the next couple of days,” one official said, adding “the U.S. is hopeful that we can keep the pause in place and the exchange in place, because we want all of the hostages out.”

One official said there is “common concern” that Hamas is holding the three Americans until the fourth day of the exchange to encourage the U.S. to put pressure on Israel for an extended pause in fighting, but the sources could not point to any official assessment or intelligence confirming that to be the case.

Previous reports from administration officials have said 10 Americans were missing.

TEL AVIV — Grief and joy.

These are just two of the complex and sometimes opposing emotions Hamas hostages and their families will experience as they emerge from 50 days in captivity in the Gaza Strip, one expert says.

Joy was the unmistakable emotion captured in the first images of freed hostages as they reunited with family this weekend. Twenty-four hostages were released Friday and another 17 were released Saturday as part of a four-day cease-fire deal.

In one, Ohad Munder-Zichri, who had his ninth birthday as a hostage in Gaza, can be seen running into his father’s arms in a video posted to Facebook.

In another, Doron Katz Asher and her young daughters Aviv, 2, and Raz, 4, can be seen in their first moments with father and husband Yoni Asher.

He hugs the three tightly.

Read the full story here.

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