A first helicopter, carrying some of the 11 abductees who were released Monday evening in the fourth round of hostage exchanges, landed at the Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv early Tuesday morning.
Among those released are nine children and two mothers.
"The Ministry of Health excitedly informs about the arrival of 9 children and 2 women at the Ichilov Medical Center who have returned home from captivity," Israel's Health Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier today, Hamas and Qatar officially announced the extension of the ceasefire by two days under the same conditions as the previous ceasefire. 20 more Israelis are expected to be released.
Israel's Prime Minister's Office stated Monday evening that the government has approved the inclusion of 50 females in the list of possible prisoners for release as an extension of the Hamas hostage exchanges.
Newest freed hostages
Sharon Aloni-Kunio (34) and her daughters Emma (3) and Yuli (3); Karina Engel-Bart (51) and her daughters Mika (18) and Yuval (11); brothers Sahar (16) and Erez Calderon (12); brothers Or (16) and Gil Jacob (12); and Eitan Yahami (12) make up the fourth group of Jewish hostages released from Hamas captivity since a hostage exchange and temporary truce agreement was reached last Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the release from Gaza of Yahami and the Calderon brothers, who have French citizenship.
Eitan, 12 ans.Erez, 12 ans.Sahar, 16 ans.Trois de nos jeunes compatriotes font partie du groupe d'otages libérés aujourd’hui. Extrêmement heureux de cette annonce.Nous restons pleinement mobilisés pour obtenir la libération de tous les otages.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 27, 2023
"Three of our young countrymen are part of the hostages released today, I am very happy with this announcement," Macron posted on X (formerly Twitter). "We remain fully mobilized to obtain the release of all the abductees."