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- 24 hostages were released on Friday at the start of a 4-day cease fire.
- The released hostages include 10 Thai citizens, 1 Filipino, and 13 Israeli women and children.
- The brutal battle kicked off on October 7 when Hamas militants invaded Israel.
Twenty-five hostages were released by Hamas on Friday, the latest sign that the 7-week conflict between Israel and the militant group may be cooling.
Ten of the hostages are Thai citizens, one is Filipino, and 13 others are believed to be Israeli women and children, according to the Israeli government's press office and Qatari foreign ministry. The International Committee of the Red Cross in Israel and the Occupied Territories said in a post on X that it had facilitated the "safe release" of 24 of the hostages.
The hostages were most recently with the Israeli Defense Forces, which said they underwent an initial medical assessment. They will next be accompanied by IDF soldiers to Israeli hospitals, "where they will be reunited with their families," IDF said in a statement.
The hostage release comes at the start of a four-day ceasefire in fighting that kicked off on October 7 when Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip launched a surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in 240 hostages being taken.
Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin acknowledged the release of the Thai citizens on X on Friday, saying embassy officials are on their way to pick them up. According to the Israeli government's press office, the Thai hostages are in Israel now and on their way to Assaf Harofeh hospital for treatment.
The other hostages are with Israeli security services and are en route to Israel, according to people familiar with the hostage release, who identified Adina Moshe, 72, among the freed hostages.
Moshe was pulled through the window of her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where her husband was killed in front of her, before being taken on a motorcycle to Gaza on October 7, according to The Times of Israel.
Margalit Moses, 77, who was also abducted from Nir Oz, is also one of the hostages who has been freed, these people said.
(Editor's note: This story is developing and will be updated throughout the day.)