Israel-Hamas war live updates: More hostages released after hourslong delay

Threats and assaults toward Jewish, Muslim, pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students on college campuses have been on the rise since the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel and the counterattacks in Gaza that have followed.

But at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, students from those same groups told NBC News they still feel safe and credit, in large part, the college’s novel approach to the issue: talking about it.

Sophomore Ramsey Alsheikh, a Muslim and son of a Palestinian refugee, remembers on Oct. 10 walking into his class on the 1967 war between Israel and Arab states. The class included Jewish, Muslim and Christian students and they had been discussing Arab and Israeli relations all fall; now those issues were playing out once again, in real time.

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.

Thirty-nine Palestinian prisoners were released as a part of the hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas today, according to the Israel prison authority.

The prison authority said the 39 were released from three prisons as a part of the second phase of the deal to free hostages.

Hostages released today are on their way to hospitals in Israel, where they will reunite with their families, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The hostages received an initial medical assessment at the meeting point in Israel. One civilian was taken to the hospital and the rest are en route to the hospitals to see family, according to the IDF.

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 duel 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.

The names of 13 Israeli hostages freed in the second day of the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas have been released by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

They are: Sharon Hertzman Avigdori, 52; Noam Avigdori, 12; Alma Or, 13; Noam Or, 17; Emily Toni Kornberg Hand; Hila Rotem Shoshani, 12; Shoshan Haran, 67; Adi Shoham, 38; Neve Shoham, 8; Yahel Shoham, 3; Shiri Weiss, 53; Noga Weiss, 18; Mia Regev Jarbi, 21.

The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said Emily Hand celebrated her ninth birthday yesterday.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it received 187 trucks of aid containing "food, water, relief assistance, medical supplies and medicines" through the Rafah crossing today.

The organization said it has received a total of 1,946 aid trucks since Oct. 21.

The Israel Defense Forces said 13 of the hostages released today are now in Israeli territory.

The hostages were medically assessed when they got to Israel and will continue to be accompanied by IDF soldiers as they travel to hospitals in the country where they will later be reunited with their families, according to the IDF.

Thirteen Israeli and four Thai citizens have been transferred to Egypt by the Red Cross, an IDF spokesperson said.

The hostages returning to Israel are making their way through Egyptian territory toward the meeting point in Keren Shalom, the spokesperson said.

Thirteen Israelis and four foreign nationals were released in today's hostage exchange and have been received by the International Committee of the Red Cross on their way to the Rafah crossing, a Qatari spokesperson said on X.

An IDF spokesperson, citing information from the Red Cross, said the second group of hostages is on its way to the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. expects that three Americans will be among the 50 Israeli hostages that will be released.

“No Americans today, still hopeful the three will get out with this 50,” a U.S. official told NBC News.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the country is "fully sticking to the letter of the agreement" with Hamas to exchange hostages for Palestinian civilians in prisons.

"On behalf of the IDF, I would like to say that we are fully sticking to the letter of the agreement," Hagari said. "There are some very serious mediators, Egypt and Qatar, are very insistent that it happens."

Hagari said Israel is making sure to follow the agreement to fulfill the goal of releasing the hostages from Gaza. Hamas, however, accused the country of not following agreed-upon terms, including the failure to release the longest-serving prisoners first and the targeting of civilians in north Gaza, killing at least one and injuring others.

Hagari did not provide any information on the hostages to be released today, but says the country is prepared to continue receiving them.

The U.S. assisted in implementing the hostage swap after a delay was imposed by Hamas, according to the White House.

President Joe Biden was briefed this morning about the delay. He spoke with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on potential holdups to the deal and mechanisms to resolve them.

Following the president’s call, senior U.S. officials were in regular contact with the Israelis, Qataris and Egyptians to overcome the hurdles to implementation of the deal. Biden was briefed throughout the day, the White House said.

White House officials learned in the afternoon from the Qataris that the deal was back on and the International Committee of the Red Cross was moving to collect the hostages.

The deal between Hamas and Israel to exchange Palestinians for Israelis will move forward tonight following a delay, according to Majed Al Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"After a delay in implementing the release of prisoners from both sides, the obstacles were overcome through Qatari-Egyptian communications with both sides, and tonight 39 Palestinian civilians will be released in exchange for the release of 13 Israeli detainees from Gaza in addition to 7 foreigners outside the framework of the agreement," Al Ansari wrote in Arabic on his X account.

No details were provided on the seven foreigners Al Ansari mentioned.

The White House did not confirm that the deal will move forward, but an official told NBC News the U.S. is working with Qatar, Egypt and Israel "on implementation of the deal.”

In a post on Telegram, Hamas said it has "complied to the appreciated Egyptian and Qatari efforts that acted throughout the day to ensure the continuation of the temporary truce agreement after they conveyed the occupation’s commitment to all the conditions stipulated in the agreement.”

Hamas said it is delaying the second round of hostages from being released over allegations that Israel violated the four-day cease-fire agreement.

In a statement shared with NBC News, Hamas highlighted three terms of the cease-fire agreement that it said Israel has violated — insufficient aid, Israel not releasing prisoners in the agreed-upon order, and violence in northern Gaza.

Hamas alleges that not enough of the agreed-upon 200 trucks of aid have made their way into northern Gaza today. Israel has violated the agreement regarding Palestinian prisoner releases, which prioritizes the longest-serving Palestinians to be released first, Hamas says.

Yesterday, while thousands of Palestinians rushed to northern Gaza in an effort to get home, Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing at least one person and injuring others, according to health officials in the enclave.

Israel has been accused by the chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Ministry of “tampering” with the list of prisoners set for release.

“The agreement stipulated the release of prisoners according to seniority, but Israel did not adhere to it yesterday,” Qaddoura Fares said in a statement today. He did not elaborate on what he meant by seniority.

“There is great dissatisfaction among the Palestinian resistance against tampering with prisoner lists,” he added.

Egypt said today that it has received positive signals from all parties for an extension of the truce in Gaza.

According to Diaa Rashwan, chairman of State Information Service, intensive Egyptian communications “are taking place with all parties to extend the truce period between Israel and Hamas for additional one to two days.”

This could mean the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, Rashwan added.

Egypt worked with all parties to successfully move more than 50 aid trucks from Rafah crossing to the northern Gaza Strip today, Rashwan said.

President Joe Biden has secured the release of two American citizens as part of the larger group of around 50 hostages during the four-day pause in fighting, a White House official told NBC News.

“We are early in the process that will see at least 50 women and children released during the first phase of the agreement,” the official said today on condition of anonymity. “We are hopeful that will include three dual national women and children, who are American citizens. This will unfold over the coming days. We will not comment on individual cases as the process is underway.”

TEL AVIV — For Gil Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel Gat, 39, was taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, the news that some hostages had been released was welcome.

“The fact that a deal could be made between Israel and Hamas is amazing,” Dickmann told NBC News today, adding that seeing his friends get their relatives back “fills you with happiness and hope.”

But he added that he was trying not to get his hopes up too much “because I think that the hostages that are supposed to be released are mainly children and their mothers.” That was not the case with his cousin, he added.

DOHA, Qatar — Amid a flurry of diplomatic activity, a Qatari “operations team” has landed in Tel Aviv to “ensure the deal continues to run smoothly, and discuss further details of the ongoing deal,” a diplomat with knowledge of events told NBC News today.

It’s a sign that these are days of both hope and fear.

Today, a Hamas official said that not enough aid was reaching northern Gaza and that it could threaten the entire agreement. Within hours, the International Red Crescent said 61 trucks had been dispatched to the region today, the “largest” convoy so far.

Other parts of the deal are also being closely scrutinized. In an interview yesterday, Qatar’s lead negotiator, Minister of State Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, told me they “remain optimistic” that Hamas will fulfill its promise to find any civilian hostages held by other groups in Gaza. He said they were “monitoring” the Hamas commitment to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to see and assess all the hostages.

At 2:37 p.m. local time, an empty bus arrived at Ofer Prison, the Israeli military facility in the occupied West Bank.

Reuters understands that this bus will likely be used to transfer prisoners for the swap expected to happen later today.

The Israeli military “will continue the preparations for the next phases of the war,” during the four-day pause in hostilities with Hamas, a spokesperson said yesterday.

“Troops are ready and prepared on all the fronts,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told a news conference. “Our policy is clear: We will act against every threat to the state of Israel.”

“Even during the operational pause, we must remain vigilant and not become complacent,” he added.

Sixty-one trucks of food, water and medical supplies entered Gaza and the devastated north of the enclave today, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society — the largest convoy of aid to enter the area since the start of the war.

“PRCS prepared, leads and escorts the convoy, with a number of PRCS ambulances as well, in addition to a number of PRCS staff and volunteers,” the organization said in a post on X. “The distribution plan in the North is also set to reach as many beneficiaries of the IDPs as possible, with PRCS teams of staff and volunteers from the North mobilized to facilitate the process.”

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are believed to still be in northern Gaza, which has been devastated by the Israeli military.

The family members of three hostages believed to still be held by Hamas said that the work of the international community is not done after 24 people were released in a temporary cease-fire agreement with Hamas.

Noam Peri said she has learned that her father, Haim Peri, is likely still alive after he was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7.

“I can tell you this morning that we have a sign of life from my father. We know he’s alive from other people from the community who were released yesterday,” she said today, adding that she isn’t able to go into further detail.

Peri said that her father survived a heart attack and relies on medication.

“My father is almost 80 years old. He’s a brave man. But he’s not a healthy man,” she said. “We assumed he’s kept underground and we know the conditions there are very hard, especially for old and ill people. It’s hard to breathe there. We don’t even know if he can stand in the place where he’s kept.”

President Joe Biden last night called for a renewed focus on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in order to help end “this cycle of violence.”

“Our resolve to pursue a two-state solution ... is more important now than ever,” Biden said as he welcomed the release of Israeli hostages and looked forward to more people being let go, as well as the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid.

“To continue down the path of terror and violence and killing and war is to give Hamas what they seek, and we can’t do that,” Biden said in a national TV address.

Emotional video has been released showing 9-year-old Ohad Munder-Zichri running into his father’s arms after being released during a four-day pause in fighting in Gaza.

“As soon as Ohad saw his father, he ran into his arms. There is nothing more emotional than that,” a statement posted on Schneider Children’s Medical Center’s Facebook page reads.

Ohad, who was taken with his mother, Keren Munder, and roughly 240 hostages during Hamas’ terror attack on Oct. 7, is shown being led by a soldier who points down the hall. He turns and runs into the arms of a man who picks him up and starts walking down the hall with him.

Keren and grandmother Ruthi were also filmed being greeted by family in the medical center.

DOHA, Qatar — Taher al-Nono, an adviser to Hamas’ political bureau, said today that Israel “has not fully committed to” key terms of the cease-fire agreement, particularly with regard to the amount of aid reaching northern Gaza.

“This puts a real risk on completing the process,” he said.

According to al-Nono, the agreement said that at least 100 trucks with humanitarian aid would enter Gaza, but that far fewer have reached the northern Gaza Strip.

“These are issues that put the implementation process in danger if the occupation does not commit today to completing the entry of aid into the northern Gaza Strip according to the agreed-upon numbers,” he said.

It took weeks of secret negotiations involving U.S., Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials, the heads of the CIA and the Mossad, and the personal intervention of President Joe Biden to convince a reluctant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a four-day cease-fire that is expected to free 50 hostages from Hamas.

The negotiations, while ultimately successful, revealed the vast challenges that remain in freeing all of the roughly 240 captives seized during the group’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

Throughout the talks, Hamas officials maintained that they had taken captive only about 70 Israeli soldiers and 50 women and children, according to a diplomat in the region with knowledge of the negotiations.

Hamas officials said the whereabouts of as many as 100 other captives are unknown but they are pursuing leads. The group claimed that “some Israelis were kidnapped by individual Palestinian gangs or smugglers,” according to the diplomat.

Read the full story here.

TEL AVIV — The hospital treating five elderly hostages released yesterday said their conditions were "stable" this morning.

"Each one is being treated according to the examination passed yesterday by the medical team, and they are being embraced by their family," Wolfson Medical Center said in a statement. "We are waiting and hoping for the return of all the abductees."

Israel's Channel 13 reported that 42 Palestinian prisoners were set to be released today in exchange for Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.

NBC News has not independently confirmed the number of people on the list of prisoners.

Hamas is set to release 13 hostages today, according to a diplomatic source with knowledge of the talks.

"They’re trying to get one more but not confirmed yet," the source adds.

Police in Los Angeles were investigating a case of vandalism at the home of the president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee as a possible hate crime.

NBC Los Angeles reported that demonstrators set off smoke devices and threw red paint on the driveway of the home of AIPAC President Michael Tuchin. The Los Angeles Police Department said on X that the incident happened Thursday and that officers took reports of vandalism/hate crime and assault with a deadly weapon.

Video posted to social media showed a group of people, some carrying Palestinian flags, outside a home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood. A man could be seen in the video confronting the demonstrators and apparently kicking at one of the flags as the woman recording the encounter seemingly shouted for him not to “be physical.”

A neighbor told NBC Los Angeles that he was hit from behind with a steel pole after confronting the group. The social media video also showed a demonstrator throwing something at a lawn near the woman who was recording the affair.

“Hate and violence will not be tolerated in our City,” Mayor Karen Bass said on X. “LAPD will continue to work with city and business leaders to keep Angelenos safe.”

Raucous crowds packed West Bank streets Saturday to celebrate the release of Palestinian prisoners under a cease-fire agreement that was expected to also see the release of 50 hostages taken by Hamas.

The celebrants with World Cup energy roiled in the streets and waved Palestinian flags to mark the occasion.

Yesterday, 39 Palestinian prisoners were released from jails in Israel and allowed to cross into Gaza amid the four-day cease-fire.

Leaders at Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel in the city of Petah Tikvah said the institution is examining eight released hostages who arrived there today.

They include four children, three mothers and a grandmother, the CEO of the hospital, Dr. Efrat Bron-Harlev, said during a news conference.

“Their physical condition is good and they’re currently undergoing medical and emotional assessment by the medical and psychological team,” she said.

Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel was one of six hospitals designated by Israel’s government to receive released hostages and check out their physical and mental health, a health ministry official said.

Al-Shifa hospital, which was the largest such institution in Gaza, was treating at least 73 severely ill or injured patients when it was all but shut down this week, the World Health Organization said in a statement yesterday.

The 73 were part of a WHO-enabled transfer of 151 total patients from Al-Shifa that started on Wednesday, the United Nations agency said. They were taken to the European Gaza Hospital and Al Najjar Hospital in Gaza’s southern region, it said.

An additional 100 patients and staff members remained at Al-Shifa in the north despite its demise “due to lack of water, fuel, medical supplies, food, and staff, and recent military incursions,” the WHO said.

The 73 included 19 people in wheelchairs, 18 dialysis patients and 26 patients with serious spinal injuries, according to the WHO.

Feelings of peace and hope may fill the air tonight amid the four-day cease-fire that’s facilitating the release of hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held by Israel, but the war isn’t over yet, a top Israeli official said.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari reminded Israelis in a video address tonight that the mission to eradicate Hamas is not over. Hagari noted that even the exchange of hostages was a half-step forward, with the vast majority of the estimated 240 abducted in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel remaining in the custody of Hamas militants despite today’s release of 24 hostages.

“Today the world watched and breathed a collective sigh of relief,” Hagari said. “But we must never lose sight of ... babies who were not reunited with their loved ones, who are still being held by Hamas.”

He said the fighting must carry on in order to secure the freedom of all the hostages, put an end to what he characterized as a terrorist Hamas regime, and ensure that Oct. 7 happens “never again.”