THE fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be back on track on Sunday after the release of a third group of militant-held hostages including 14 Israelis, in a third set of releases under a cease-fire deal. Red Cross representatives transferred the hostages out of Gaza late on Sunday. Some were handed over directly to Israel, while others left through Egypt.

 

The Army said one of the hostages was airlifted directly to an Israeli hospital. Israel was to free 39 Palestinian prisoners later on Sunday as part of the deal. It was the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages it has been holding in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. A fourth exchange is expected to take place on Monday - the last day of the four-day cease-fire between the enemies. A total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. In a separate development, Hamas announced that one of its top commanders had been killed, without saying when or how. Israel’s military confirmed it.

 

The second exchange was delayed for hours on Saturday after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement, which has brought the first significant pause in seven weeks of war marked by the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades and vast destruction and displacement across the Gaza Strip. Hamas later released 13 Israelis and four Thais, while Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the US had “reason to believe” that an American hostage would be released Sunday and said there were hopes it would be Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old girl who lost her parents in the Hamas attack on Oct 7.

 

Sullivan also said that US President Joe Biden would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Sunday. Separately, Hamas said it had released one of the Russian hostages it was holding, “in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin” and as a show of appreciation for Moscow’s position on the war. Israeli army radio had reported that it was an Israeli-Russian dual national.